The making of a purse

I'm quite excited about this. I've been making for the first time ever in my life a purse with a Burda pattern (Burda Young/fashion pattern #8235)

I've been listening to Librivox audio books today and I adore the ones from Frank L. Baum's masterpiece The Land of Oz so much. Due to the wonderful voice of Paul Harvey. He even does the different voices of the characters. It's so funny. I can't get enough! Here's a link to Librivox's The Wonderful Land of Oz.

Here are the finished results so far - I'm planning to make lots of them. I've used the wonderful vintage repro fabrics I ordered some time ago at www.reprodepot.com.

Two purses made with the Burda Pattern and the Reprodepot fabrics.

And a little detail:

Here's a little tutorial on how to do it. It's quite easy to do.

 
Laying the cut out pattern onto the fabric.

 
After you've pinned the pattern onto the fabric, just cut it out. There is a seam allowance in the pattern itself. Which is super easy and practical!

 
Remove the pattern and now you'll have the cut out pieces of your yet to be made purse.

Now is a good time to have a nice glass of red wine.

A nice glass of red Cabernet Sauvignon will help with the  zigzag stitching next.

 

Put your sewing machine to zigzag stitching. I love zigzagging my way into happiness. :)

 

Zigzag the straight side of the larger piece of the patterns. This is of course to help preventing from unraveling the fabric.

 

 
Fold and iron the straight small part of the larger piece like so. And sew along the dotted lines.

 

Now you'll make the little ribbon. Iron the little piece halfway. Good sides facing each other. Pressing with some steam will help.

 

Sew the larger sides together and turn inside out.

Mark with a special pen (which ink disappears after 24 hours) the hemlines unto the fabric. I've used 1cm.

 
Be sure that your sewing machine is well set. I use a pressure of 4.5. But it all depends on your machine.

Pin the ribbon onto the larger part of the fabric. And stitch it with large stitches so it sits firm when sewing it with the machine.

Now sew the ribbon onto the fabric with the machine.

 
Turn the larger part of the piece over, good sides facing each other. And hand stitch with large stitches so it doesn't move.

Lay the smaller piece of the pattern (I've used some ironing-on fabric for stability and firmness) unto the larger piece.

Temporarily stitch with large stitches onto each other.

Now stitch the sides of the square parts with the machine.

 
Turn the purse inside out, now you'll have the good sides out. And sew the curved sides with the machine.

 
I've added a button with a special tool. I love those buttons. I don't know the right word for it in English. But in Dutch we call it a press-button (drukknop).

A label will always look nice as a finishing touch. I've ironed this custom made labels of Digibudi's Sewcute inside the flap of the purse.

Et voila! Le Purse est finis..

My first two purses made with a Burda pattern. Yes sir!

 

I've got these great ribbons from my mother when she visited me this afternoon. She bought them at a flee market today and I'm very happy with her choice. Great ribbons!

A present from my mother, ribbons galore!

 

Bye now, and back to my studio working at some more purses. And within a few days the new dolls will arrive at the Digital Garden, stay tuned for those goodies!

And remember: The smaller the purse, the bigger the cash!