Inspired Project!

There’s a common “joke” for sewists/makers/creators, you’ve probably seen it on your social media feeds, in fact, let’s see if I can find it….one sec!

If you change that “craft supplies” to fabric, this would sum up 90% of my projects lol! Now yes, of course, we all know that our handmade goods are usually far superior in quality to those found for $7, but it’s still a funny little joke that usually gets a giggle and a head nod in agreeance lol!

And the reason I’m bringing this up now? Welllllllll this may be exactly what happened with the project I’m sharing with you today!

I’ve always loved the traditional “bowler bag” type of handbag, still am a sucker for them if I see a new pattern for one! From the beginning of my bag making journey, I fell in love with this particular one from my favourite designer, Swoon patterns.

Ahhhhh, Maisie, you’re just the cutest!! Not a lot of bells and whistles, her charm more comes from the shape…those curves, the “swooshes”…..I’m gushing, I know lol! So, way back when I purchased the pattern and just waited, telling myself I’d make her one day when my skills were improved, and then….I forgot about her!!! That was until I was reminded of her when I started seeing these advertisements in my social media feeds…..

As happens these days, I had made a purchase of 2 pairs of Puma shoes so of course I start seeing these ads for all things Puma when I had never seen them before lol! But I wasn’t too mad about it because just look at those bags…do you see what I see?!? That’s right….bowler bags!!!!! I also love the round ones too but that’s for another day (but if you do know of a pattern for one that does NOT have binding on the interior, please let me know lol)!

The green one stood out to me the most so before I could stop it, I clicked on it to see all the details, including the most important one…price! I’m not sure I was prepared….no, I was, I knew it was going to be pricey, and truthfully I think I was kind of glad it was because ever since I started making bags, I’ve never purchased one for myself from a store, and I’m 99.9% sure I never will, can’t say 100% because you never know right lol, and perhaps if this bag would have been more affordable, maybe this would have been that exception!!! Are you ready to see the price….just for fun, take a guess of what you think it costs and see how close you were!

I totally understand that in the grand scheme of things, that price really isn’t that bad, I should have clarified that it’s just not a price I’m willing to pay! Heck, I didn’t even pay that much for both of my super cute Puma shoes together lol!

So, as a maker, here comes that little voice saying to me, “why buy that for $189 when you could make it for…..way less” lol! This time, thankfully, I knew I could make it for much less and make it just like I wanted…and that’s what I did!

I looked at all the vinyls I had in my stash and what kept jumping out to me were the white and black! Of all the bright and fun colours I have, white and black is what I was going to use….really?!? Yes! I don’t remember the last time I made a “mellow” bag, usually I’m using a bright and beautiful floral or a geometrical design, there’s usually some purples, teals, pinks, something bright…..hardly ever just white and black! I think I really wanted the shape of the bag and those fun “swooshes” to be the focus, not the fabric soooo white and black it is!

Another reason I love Puma is that it just so happens to be a major sponsor and the official apparel supplier for Formula 1 racing, which I’m also a huge fan of, in particular Ferrari so I decided that this bag was going to have some subtle nods to that as well, we’ll see if you can pick those little touches out on your own!

It has been quite awhile since I’ve made a proper bag like this, and friends…..I forgot how much prep is involved lol! My goodness, just when I thought I was done I realized I’d forgotten something else!

Oh well, that’s all behind me now because finally…she’s finished and I’m so excited to share her with you! Drumroll please……

Eeek!!! There she is in all her curvy glory! Is she perfect? No, definitely not but that’s real life, right? I love that she’s quietly understated and that she’ll compliment any outfit I wear with her!

I only made 2 changes from the original pattern, one I’m sure you noticed right away was the handles. I’m just so not a fan of having small little handles and then an additional shoulder strap! I just don’t love those handles just hanging there when you’re using the strap so if the pattern I’m using has both, I decide which I want, handles or a strap and that’s what I’ll do and make any adjustments I need to. In this case, I decided I wanted the handles but shoulder length so I made them as long as I could with the vinyl I had, which turned out to be 38″! That sounds like a lot and while I think it will be fine, if after using it, if I want to shorten them up, I will! Since I didn’t make the shoulder strap, that meant I could omit the side connector!

The other change you can’t see but I’m so glad I did it! The original Maisie has a drop-in lining, which is fine, I don’t hate doing them but while I was searching YouTube for a video tutorial of anyone making this bag, I found one that said she had converted the pattern to do the “birthing” method instead. That is always my preferred way to make a bag so that’s the video I followed along with and it was by Rosie’s Art Studio! I did flip back and forth between her video and the original written instructions, and apparently I wasn’t completely paying attention because I forgot to do the side exterior pockets lol! Rosie omitted them because she said there was too much bulk for her machine, which is the same machine as mine but I was sure with the materials I was using, that Judi Juki could handle it. I must have been following her video at that particular step and didn’t notice that she skipped it and by the time I realized, I would have had to take off all the piping in order to put them on, and that wasn’t happening lol!

And yes, there is piping on there, you just can’t really see it lol! Let me get a better picture of it…..

I used black piping and I knew it wasn’t going to really show, so for like 3 seconds I considered using red piping but I was too scared! I’ve only used piping once before, probably 10 years ago, and I made my own! It went fine I think, but I was worried that if I messed it up on here and it was bright red, it would be so noticeable that it would ruin the bag! Now I’m realizing I should have just skipped it altogether but, as they say, hindsight is 20/20 lol!

Did you notice my nods to Ferrari? If you didn’t see the Kona Red lining, well, you might want to get your eyes checked lol, but the other two little nods are the red stitching on the base that I achieved with Cardinal Glide thread and the Kona Red again for the the handles!

I might still add a couple of little bling elements that can hang from the handle hardware, such as a tassel or a bag charm, but that’s also for another day, for now I have a very important task….make a matching wallet lol! You know I’ll share that when it’s done too, and maybe by then I’ll have decided on any additional add-ons and you’ll see those too!

That’s all for now friends, I hope you enjoyed reading about this project…oh, and I wasn’t kidding before, if you know of a round bag pattern that does NOT have any binding in it, please share, I’d forever be grateful!!

Wishing you all a wonderful week and I shall finally sign off by saying……Forza Ferrari!

Shawna