Purse Construction: Day One

First things first: cutting the fabric. I cut off the tape from my cardboard mock-up and used those pieces as my pattern pieces. I cut the front piece in half to cut the front and back on the fold.The purse has four layers: the satin, then stiff interfacing, then felt, then the flowered canvas lining.

Sewing together the lining pieces took no time at all. Then I decided to stitch the satin onto the interfacing since most of the pieces will be gathered or pleated onto it.

I tried simply gathering around where the front leather decal would go, but it wasn't laying the way I wanted so I eventually took out all the gathering stitches and decided to pleat the front into place. Here's the front with the pleats pinned before I sewed them down:

It seems that my sewing machine won't play nice with the faux leather, so all the leather has to be stitched by hand. It's slow work, but great practice, because I'm not very good at it. Hopefully by the end of this project my handstitching will have improved.

This purse is the first thing I'm making under my own brand name, 1801. I went to Things Remembered to get an 1801 metal plate made for the front of the purse. Unfortunately, the one I wanted cost $37 - more than the fabric! But it was the best choice, so I went with it. Looking at it on the front of the purse, I know I made the right decision.

This weekend I will be away in Las Vegas for my 21st birthday (woo!), so I'll keep the blog updated on my progress next week.