Before I start writing this, I'd like to preface this post by saying that this project happened several months ago, I just never got around to writing about it.
This was a very chaotic, spontaneous project that I decided to undertake for my friends' debutant ball. I am not really one for dressing up or formal wear, so my outfit was fairly pieced together.
One thing that I realised I was missing was a bag/purse and since my dress didn't have any pockets (*sigh*), something needed to be done. My original plan was to go to the Op-Shop (thrift store) and just find one that looked okay, but after seeing the limited selection and realising that I had a free Saturday coming up, I was inspired to make my own.
Now I have never made a bag before, and to be honest, I probably didn't have any of the right equipment, but I just treated it as an experiment and had fun! I didn't have a super rigid plan of attack going into it, but I mocked up a few sketches, going for an envelope-inspired look.
I started by taking apart an old make-up bag that I ended up getting from the Op-Shop and cleaning the faux leather with some warm soapy water. I then cut up my pieces out of the pink fabric, along with some spare red satin (backed with interfacing) that I used for the lining.
Sewing it all together was the greatest challenge, given it was a pretty small bag and very heavy fabric. Devoid of a Teflon presser foot, I put a bit of sticky tape on the underside of my regular presser foot, which seemed to help a bit, but it was still very finicky. Another tactic which seemed to work well was pressing the leather into shape by clamping it with bulldog clips.
Easily the most difficult part was the final row of stitches attaching the lining to the body of the bag, which required a combination of machine and hand sewing. Eventually, (after one or two bent needles, a very sore thumb and much frustration) I managed to successfully piece everything together, and ended up with a functional clutch.
For the clasp, I had originally designed to use magnets, glued between the two layers of fabric, but I quickly realised that I didn't have any magnets that would be strong enough to hold the fake leather in place without the bag opening up. Instead, I sewed a hook and eye onto the lid and bag to act as a clasp.
It's probably not the neatest thing that I have ever made and ideally, if I had more fabric, I would have made the lid larger, but it was a fun thing to try out and it was nice to have a bag to match the home-sewn dress I wore, which once belonged to my grandmother.
The song inspo for this piece is Shania Twain's Man! I feel like a woman! for several reasons;
The colour palette of the bag reminded me of the Come on Over album art
Everyone was dancing hard to this song at the debutant ball
This project had me embracing my more feminine side
Feel free to share :-)
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