Perfect Pattern Parcel #7: The Butterfly Sling by Emmaline Patterns
Monday, November 17, 2014
Perfect Pattern Parcel is back with their final parcel of the year. This time around they have decided to focus on one of my favorite accessories, handbags. A few months back I was asked if I'd like to participate by making one of the patterns from the parcel. Take a look at my handbag collection and you'd know why I couldn't refuse.
For those of you who may not be familiar, Perfect Pattern Parcel was created to provide us home sewists with the opportunity to purchase a collection of digital patterns by independent designers. By purchasing from PPP you are supporting independent designers and children's education. A portion of all proceeds are donated to the charity Donorschoose.org in order to help classrooms in need. With Perfect Pattern Parcel you choose your price and you choose how your payment is allocated between the designers, charity and PPP.
PATTERNS INCLUDED IN PARCEL #7:
Barcelona Bag and Wallet by Pat Bravo
Butterfly Sling Purse by Emmaline Patterns
Evelyn Hangbag by ChrisW Designs
Midtown Messenger Bag by Betz White
Betty Bowler by Swoon Sewing Patterns
BONUS PATTERN: Daphne Bag by Clover & Violet
Butterfly Sling Purse by Emmaline Patterns
Evelyn Hangbag by ChrisW Designs
Midtown Messenger Bag by Betz White
Betty Bowler by Swoon Sewing Patterns
BONUS PATTERN: Daphne Bag by Clover & Violet
I love to shop but I find it so awkward to shop with a shoulder bag. I've been known to carry everything but the kitchen sink so imagine how my shoulder must feel after a day filled with shopping. Argh, throw some ice on it and call it a day! I've learned that there are only a few necessities needed when shopping, good walking shoes and a wallet full of cash. After perusing the pattern parcel lineup the Butterfly Sling looked like the perfect solution to all of my aching extremities.
What I love about this bag is all the pockets. There are slip pockets, id pockets, zippered pockets and card pockets and it's all easily accessible in this compact 9 x 6 crossbody. When you open the closure strap the bag opens like a butterfly, hence the name, to show a slip pocket, zippered pocket and a id pocket.
Here's where I goofed a little. The zippered pocket and id pocket are actually supposed to be on the right side of the bag, same side as the shoulder strap. That way you can easily open your bag to flash your id when your say at the liquor store buying booze, or getting carded at the bar...yes these are the only examples I could come up with for possibly needing to show your driver's license. Because of this I thought anything that was in the slip pocket would fall out when fully opened. I planned on carrying my cellphone in this pocket so I added the little pearl snap so it wouldn't fall out. Well little did I know that I would assemble the bag wrong so my little pearl snap is not actually needed now. I kind of like it better this way anyhow. I can easily put my hand inside and pull out my id or access the zippered pocket without needing to actually open the bag. When your being carded for booze they really study your license and get up close and personal to it so I believe better to take it out and hand it to them so I don't risk my comfort zone being invaded.
There are 6 card slots in each of the zippered pockets on the inside of the bag. Perfect for holding all those reward/savings cards that everyone seems to have now. My checkbook even fits nicely in the inside. So after cramming my cellphone, checkbook, gum, lipstick, keys and a bazillion cards into this bag, I still had room for more and it was still very lightweight and manageable.
The fabric used come courtesy of Blend Fabrics and is from their Harmony collection. Back in August they contacted me in regards to my "Owl You Need" Sewing Buddy. They were attending Quilt Market in October and were looking for some woodsy creatures to showcase their fabrics. They sent me some fat quarters and I made them an owl, fox and hedgehog (Instagram here). In exchange for the little guys they sent me some fabric of my choice. I instantly fell in love with the butterfly print and I believe this bag was the perfect project for it.
My faux leather strap was from my stash. I purchased the pleather from Joann Fabric a while back for a project gone awry so I'm glad I found a good use for it. The pleather was rather lightweight so to make it a little sturdier and able to withhold some daily tugging and pulling I cut two pieces and glued them wrong sides together with some fabric glue. I then topstitched all the way around the strap. All of my hardware minus the magnetic closure snaps were purchased from Emmaline Patterns. I actually had a really cute butterfly turn lock that I was going to use in place of the oval one. Turned out it was too big for the bag and didn't really look right so I shall save it for another project.
Since the bag is all rectangular pieces there are no actual pattern pieces provided only measurements to cut your own pieces. The instructions were easy to follow and there was plenty of pictures provided in each step. The only thing I wish there would of been more of was finished photos of the bag. There is only one picture of the bag on the front of the pattern and it's of the front the bag. I would of loved to have had photos of the inside of the bag to reference too. I had to keep grabbing my laptop to find pictures on their website. Putting together this type of handbag is kinda like putting together a puzzle. When sitting at the table putting together a puzzle with Grandma you always have the picture on the box to look at to figure out where your pieces fit and what your finished puzzle should look like. When it got down to the nitty gritty of assembling slip pockets, zipper pockets, exterior pockets and card slots it was hard for me to figure out what pieces went where without a finished photo to look at.
I'm super happy with the way my bag turned out. I think I'll take myself shopping this weekend to test her out. I'm sure I found the cure for my aching shoulder however I'm not so sure about the empty wallet.
If your interested in purchasing this pattern parcel you have about 4 days left to do so. Head on over here and name your price. A payment of $32 or greater gets you the bonus pattern, the Daphne Bag which has not been released yet outside of the parcel. If your into the handmade Christmas giving these would make great Christmas gifts.
For me making handbags is a nice break from all the fitting woes garment construction entails. How do you break from garment making?
19 comments
Very cute!! It looks really professional with the gazillion pockets. I know the feeling of carrying everything but the kitchen sink, I'm guilty of that too :D
ReplyDeleteI love the faux leather detail! This bag looks professional- well done!
ReplyDeleteOh, and your print matching on the lining of the zippered pockets- superb! Totally impressed!
ReplyDeleteturned out great! Great feedback from you Shanni, I love hearing what you have to say and your suggestions. Thank you so much for reviewing and sharing my pattern. I love your bag!! Janelle
ReplyDeleteLooks great! Nice fabric choice... Pretty without being overly cutesy.
ReplyDeleteThis looks awesome! And perfect for shopping hands-free! I just took a break from garment sewing too and made monsters!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Nilla!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Pretty happy with how this bag turned out!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Love the pattern and can't wait to take my bag out shopping! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteI seen those on Instagram! So cute!
ReplyDeleteYour bag is just perfection. I adore it. So very well done. (claps hands)
ReplyDeleteGreat bag, how long did it take you to make it?
ReplyDeleteI have to admit this is one of the prettiest bags of the Pattern Parcel tour and I had no interest in sewing this particular bag until I saw yours and now I'm sold! It is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThis is really cute! And I am totally envious of people who can use such a small purse. Mine is huge! Like, I carry my 40 oz Klean Kanteen in there!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much!
ReplyDeleteI worked on it a couple of hours every night. I'm gonna say about a total of 8 - 10 hours.
ReplyDeleteOh thank you!! It's a fun bag to make!!
ReplyDeletelol! I def couldn't carry this for everyday...well I probably could if I get rid of most of the stuff in my bag that I never use but think I need to carry it just in case,
ReplyDelete