I am so proud right now, guys! I have just finished my very first fancy handbag!
I’m pretty excited about it, as you might be able to tell π I made it for my mother-in-law, after making a resolution for this year that I would give only handmade gifts to people for birthdays, Christmas and the like. Despite much visible distress from my family when I announced this decision, I have forged ahead with my resolution, and so when I realised my mother-in-law’s birthday was just around the corner, I instructed my husband to find out her favourite colours.
The answer she gave was black, pink and white, and so from there I embarked on the largest sewing project I had undertaken to date. It is worth noting that I had actually made two handbags prior to this one, one for myself and one for my stepsister, and had already learned a little bit about the art of bag-making.
My first step was to go to my local Spotlight (an Australian craft store for those not in the know) and pick up my materials. I love choosing materials. I feel like it’s where the adventure truly begins, as mad as that sounds. I got a metre of both my outer and lining fabric, a metre of ribbon, and a metre and a half of the stiffest iron-on interfacing they had. I also bought a pink zip, but we don’t mention the zip. Zips are for the weak.
For the basic bag structure, a friend recommended I use this pattern. While I did use that pattern as a guide, I did end up diverging from it quite a bit in the end. Still, it was an extremely helpful tutorial and I would recommend it to anyone looking to make their first bag.
The little cat hanging from the side is my little signature cat! I love cats. I fully intend to be a crazy cat lady when I’m older and have my own house and don’t have nasty, cat-hating landlords dictating my pet allowances. Anyway. I intend for the cat to be different for every bag I make, but for this one, he’s made of felt. Incidentally, it would appear everyone on the internet recommends you don’t iron felt. I searched and searched to see if I was able to iron my kitty onto some interfacing without scorching his little face off, and everywhere said no. But I’m a determined kind of person, and decided to do it anyway. AND HE TURNED OUT FINE. So nuts to you, internet. Disclaimer: If you do iron your felt and it melts or something, it’s totally not my fault.
So there you have it: My first awesome handbag!
Just so you all know, the bag Kirsty made for me is awesome, and I love love love it. Beautiful colours a great shape, and large enough to hold all my stuff!! Yay!
That is beautiful! Would you happen to know if that fabric is avail. in the US or happen to have a link for an online store that ships?
Thanks!
Thank you! I got the fabric from Spotlight, which to my knowledge is an Australian-only store. Sadly, they don't have an online store, either π¦ Sorry!