Finished My First Purse

[Dan28]

Well, almost finished. I am going to replace the snap on the outside compartment with another type of clasp, as it is hard to snap closed when empty.

It was sewn inside out and pretty hard to flip after sewing. I probably should have wet it before trying to turn it inside out. I got some permanent wrinkles on the back side from doing that. I also had to make a longer strap, as my first one probably would have been too short to wear cross-body.

[craftsman827]

VERY NICE !!!

HOW DID YOU SEW IT ?

MACHINE or HAND ?

[builderofstuff]

Looks great!

[Dan28]

Thanks. That is all hand stitched as I don't have a sewing machine.

[billybopp]

Really nice!

[Dan28]

I had no plans once I got to the zipper part. I knew I was going to put a zipper on it but not exactly sure how I was going to accomplish that. I ended up winging it Kind of wished the actual zipper piece was about a quarter inch shorter on one side. Also the first zipper I bought was 9 inches which meant it would not have went from end to end. I had planed to center it and I thought that would be fine, but some lady friends of mine told me it needed to go from end to end. So I had to search for a longer red zipper. Ended up getting one that was about 2 inches longer and cutting it down.

[MonicaJacobson]

Dude, that's a lot of hand sewing. Great job!

[ClintM]

Nice work!

[Dan28]

Dude, that's a lot of hand sewing. Great job!

I've thought about keeping track of how many hours I sew on some of these larger projects, but maybe I don't really want to know. I'm sure it was over 15 hours on that, I am getting faster though. Oh and I don't think the pictures do the thread I used justice. That is Scarlett waxed poly cord from Maine Thread Co. that I saw some people on here recommend. It is pretty nice thread.

I would have liked to had the outside compartment with the stitches on the inside as well, but couldn't think of a way to do that and then attach it to the purse. It has two horizontal stitch lines connecting it to the main body of the purse, one visible in the pics and one about three inches lower at the bottom of the little pouch. I sewed the back and gussets to the purse until I got to the front side of the gusset. I stopped there so I would be able to have room to then stitch my lower horizontal line connecting it to the purse. Once the horizontal lines were done, I finished sewing the the front of the pouch and the gusset. There probably is a way to attach it whole that I didn't think of, like putting an extension piece that extends down past the end of the pouch, but I chose not to do that.

That purse is now full of bubble wrap to keep it's shape and in storage waiting for Christmas as its going to be a gift. Not procrastinating this year like I have always done in the past.

On a side note, I've had three people who I showed it to, want just the little pouch as a small clutch/purse. I may make some of those because I can whip them out fast and I did make a pattern for it and saved it.

Edited August 20, 2014 by Dan28

[billybopp]

Hmmm... Just a thought, but why not make the pouch as a totally separate piece (you can sew it inside out then) and attach it to the bigger bag with heavy snaps, or some other secure means that will leave it removable. That way when the user wants to carry just the clutch, they can just take it off.

Bill