First up, after finishing my first Margaret bag as a gift for a friend earlier this week, I decided that I needed one for myself too. When I wore a gray dress yesterday and found I had only packed a single purse and it was brown, my need for this purse became desperate. So, I stitched it up yesterday afternoon! Having already completed it once, this went much more quickly (it took me about three and a half or four hours.) I used some aqua fabric from Bonnie & Camille's "Vintage Modern" line.
Can we all admire how perfect that button is for a moment? Maybe this isn't the best photo of it, but trust me, it's perfect.
After finishing the first Margaret bag, I was a little annoyed with the time and expense that resulted from the many layers of interlining. So this time, I tried it with just a single layer of heavy weight interfacing. I'm happy with how it turned out, but you can see here the difference in how stiff the finished bag is.
No, I haven't mailed the gift bag yet. I'm working on it. :)
The second purse I made was something I was inspired to try by Amy's Fat Quarter Bag. But really, the only thing I did that was similar was use fat quarters as my starting point and use grosgrain ribbon for the handles. Amazingly, I managed to make it reversible with no major issues on my first go-round. It took me about an hour and a half start to finish.
Side one!
Side two!
Pretty cute, I think! Maybe someday there will be some little girls in my life to make these for.
Update: I found a home for this little bag! We went and visited my boyfriend's family this weekend and we gave the purse to his five-year-old niece. Perfect! He (boyfriend) has been so sweet about the purse-making enterprise, by the way. He keeps showing off my aqua bag to people and telling them that I made it. :)
All in all, I've enjoyed this little foray into purse making!
Linking my bags with Amy Lou Who's Sew & Tell.
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Cute bags. I especially like the aqua one, or maybe the dark blue one! I bet they will get a lot of good use!
ReplyDeleteThanks Bev! I've been using mine constantly since I finished it! It's been fun to make something so practical!
DeleteLove your bags! Isn't it funny how the second time making something is quicker than the first?!?
ReplyDeleteNo kidding! It makes such a difference, even when it doesn't necessarily seem complicated the first time through. Maybe one day I'll be able to whip these out over lunch break. ;)
DeleteAnd thanks!
It's hard to know how to price handmade. You want to recover your material expense and some many toward your time, but want it to be affordable. I sell quilts, and what a do is compare like items on etsy. I throw out the extra expensive, and the ones that are giving them away for the fabric cost, and come up with an average that feels fair. I went looking, for you, and found this one as a starter: http://www.etsy.com/listing/80008777/cotton-bag-in-red-and-orange-flowers?ref=sr_gallery_22&ga_search_query=cotton+bag&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_min=0&ga_max=0&ga_ref=auto2&ga_explicit_scope=1&ga_search_type=handmade
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