I got to see this purse in person recently, and I love it! And the Liberty fabric accents are just gorgeous…
For this contribution to the Blank Slate Sewing Team I made the Favorite Purse which is good because I was in need of a new bag and this style and size was perfect for what I wanted.
Bonus points: all the fabric came from my stash so only had to buy the hardware and webbing!
The outer fabric is some sort of faux suede-ish thing. I know it's all synthetic but I'm actually not quite certain what it is. I bought it at Hancock’s years ago.
The lining is leftover Liberty of London cotton which someone gave me when she was cleaning out her stash (I know, right? Free Liberty!?). I'm glad I could use up more of it.
At first, I thought with all the zip pockets and layers this would be a difficult - or at least tedious - project, but the instructions made it pretty simple.
I liked the method for attaching the two hidden zipper pockets. And the tip for taping the zipper to the back of the welt opening meant I didn't need to worry about it slipping around as I sewed from the top side. I don't know why I never thought to do that before...
The hardest part was getting the bias binding around the little oval-shaped tabs on the sides of the purse.
But I figured out a good way of getting the tape to curve: I sewed basing stitches in the grooves of the two outer folds of the bias tape along where it would curve.
I pulled on the stitches to tighten the folded edges up slightly and pressed the curve in place.
Then I sandwiched the tab piece edges inside the bias tape and top-stitched.
I used some poly webbing for the strap, but seeing it with this fabric makes me think it's a little too sporty for this bag. I'm going to buy some cotton webbing and replace it. Until then this purse is still cute and functional!
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