DIY Purse
I am happy to report that I followed through with my plans to make a craft date with my friend, Katie, and construct a new bag for myself using this free pattern.
Well, our date kind of turned into a marathon crafting session. I arrived at 12:30pm and did not leave until almost 9 o’clock. It was worth it, though. I just couldn’t leave there until it was finished!
Crafting with a friend was a huge treat. I realized that when I work alone, I’m much more likely to get frustrated if something goes wrong. It was so refreshing to be able to ask someone for help in the middle of a project. We deciphered the pattern together, and she helped me solve major problems that I caused for myself. In turn, I helped her when she got stuck on her quilt. Crafting with a friend is certainly the way to go. Also, setting aside a specific day and time really helped me follow-through with my plans.
I’m honestly not much of a sewer, but I feel like I get better with each project. There’s such an amazing feeling that comes from making something from scratch. It certainly wasn’t a stress-free process. At one point, the material I was sewing through was so thick my machine thought I was sewing my own finger and went into Safety Mode. It would just buzz any time I tried to press the sewing foot. Another time, I sewed the lining in wrong and had to tear the whole thing out with a seam ripper. As I was using the seam ripper, the cotton lining started to tear. Aack!
In the end, though, I have a customized bag. I even made specialized pockets for my Sharpie pens and Burt’s Bees chapstick. I am a little disappointed that the bag doesn’t open up as fully as I would like, but I’m still quite happy with it.
I’m already trying to figure out what I want to do for my next project!
Happy Crafting!
7 Comments
Anonymous
what a cool bag! making mistakes is how we learn 🙂 i make tons of them every time i try and sew something but always learn something new in the process!
ellbee
I'm a beginner sewer, but I want to try and make this bag. What did you think the difficulty level was for this? Thanks!
saracotner
@ ellbee: Hmmm…It was difficult in the sense that it took nine-ish hours to complete, and I needed the help of a partner to decipher aspects of the pattern. Other than those two things, there didn't seem to be anything really difficult about it except there were times when it got very thick and was difficult to sew through. Best of luck to you!
Amber
Love that fabric! I've been eying this pattern for sometime trying to find the time to sew my own bag.
Abigail Gwendolyn Bryant
Hi Sara,
Do you have a copy of this pattern? The link you provided says that the pattern is "permanently retired."
saracotner
Hi, Abigail: Shoot! I just looked through my files and I didn't save it. I'm sorry I can't help you!
Liz
Apparently the reason it's been retired permanently is so that she can sell the pattern: it's available for $5 here