Handbags

Miss Maggie for Em

~ Michelle

I wanted to make a handbag for Em. It was one of her Christmas gifts.

I have many handbag patterns, but have only made three so far: Chris W’s Serendipity Hip, Emmaline Bags’ Craftsy Clutch Bag and Miss Maggie’s Handbag.I keep going back to the Miss Maggie’s because I really love the shape of the pattern. If you haven’t tried it, it’s a free pattern.So, it was a Miss Maggie’s again.

Even before I picked a pattern, I found this gorgeous material. I’m not even sure where I saw the material, but as soon as I saw it, I knew it was perfect. Em loves cats, and bright colors. Well, this is perfect for her

Em’s Miss Maggie’s

Here’s Em’s Miss Maggie’s:Oh, I’m loving this too.

I used iridescent hardware for this bag. I thought the shimmer of purple would go beautifully with the bright colors.

Here’s the side view:You can still see some kitties, but you can also see the black and grey material without the cats that I used for the back. It still gives some visual interest, but doesn’t take away from the front of the bag at all.

Here’s the back with the straps hanging down.I really like the back of the bag too.

I make my straps longer than the Miss Maggie’s pattern suggests. I make them long enough to make this a shoulder bag.

I also change the straps just a bit more by making them Jazzy. I read a post on Chris W.’s blog about Jazzy straps and have done this a few times now with my straps. You can read how to do it here.

One thing I learned about making Jazzy straps is to use the darker color for the part that will get the most use. I found on my Canada Miss Maggie’s that the straps were showing the most wear at the top where I’d hold them, or where I’d pick up the bag. Using a lighter color there wasn’t the best idea. It might add more pop at the top, but it also shows the most wear there too.

 Dressing Up Miss Maggie’s

 Miss Maggie’s Handbag doesn’t need a lot of dressing up, but she did get a couple of fun features in the hardware I used.

The first choice I made for Em’s handbag after picking out the fabric was to get the iridescent Long John strap anchors. I love these anchors and have used them most of the time I’ve made this pattern. This was the first time I used the iridescent. They add a lot of bling.Don’t they look great? I’ve also used iridescent rivets.

I bought some metallic purple faux leather from Emmaline Bags to make a tassel.That adds just a little more bling to the handbag. And this faux leather is lovely to cut. It’s very soft.

The tassel above is gold because the iridescent ones were out of stock at the time. I have since received the second iridescent tassel, and will give her both… as soon as I make that second one.

The last bit of bling had to be positioned just so.The Handmade tag had to be positioned just so one of the kitties was looking at it.

Here’s the inside of the handbag. A lot more bright colors. All the fabrics I used to make Em’s Miss Maggie’s came from the Cat-i-tude line of fabric.

I hope Em loves her gift as much as I loved making it.

Happy New Year & happy creating!

Making Time for Miss Maggie

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

I have been using my Oh Canada Miss Maggie handbag since I made it last year. Here it is when it was new.It’s had a lot of use, and it’s still looking good! Below is how it looks after daily use for a year. The only real wear I’m seeing on it is on the handle where I used maple leaf fabric. It’s looking less bright now. The photo on the left is when the bag was new. A year later on the right.It doesn’t even look that bad.

 I love the shape of the Miss Maggie handbag. So after debating other patterns I have, I’ve chosen to make this pattern again.

Materials

I’ve wanted to try working with leather. I love the durability of leather, but I do have to say, my cotton handbag has endured very well. It’s also the lightest handbag I can remember using. I was surprised when I started using it just how light it was. I may miss that using leather this time.

However, as I said, I wanted to try working with leather. I had purchased some last year, so decided to pull it out and cut into it.I got this at Peggy Sue Also, on Etsy.  It’s lovely. So far, working with leather is really nice. It’s so soft and pliable. We’ll see if I still think working with it is nice once I’m sewing multiple layers of it.

I didn’t have any fabric with the exact same fuchsia color in my stash for the lining, so I decided to use a fun fabric I had.I think this lining fabric will be adorable. I found this on Etsy as well.

A Leather Miss Maggie

I had my Miss Maggie all cut out, and then the corset challenge for May happened. But it waited patiently for me.This turned out quite nicely. The only real problem I had was doing the top stitching at the end. My machine kept skipping stitches, and I had to keep going back over it to fix it.My machine was fine with two layers, and even three, but it decided four layers of leather was just too much.

Inside the bag I’ve added a zipper pocket.     And a slip pocket.Aren’t all those bras adorable?

I also added a tassel and used Long John Strap anchors. After taking these photos, I did go over t hose skipped stitches again. It’s not the best, but it all works. I’ll find a better solution for the next leather bag I make.As well as the tassel, I used swivel hooks to attach my straps to the anchors. Adding just that little bit extra length to the straps makes this a shoulder bag for me.

I also added a lovely Handmade logo to the front of my bag.All the hardware for this bag is from Emmaline Bags.I love this bag, and my first attempt to make a leather bag turned out great! I will definitely be making another one – but I’ll tune up my Singer Featherweight to do the top stitching on that  next one.

Happy creating!

My Last Canada Bag

~ Michelle ~ 6 Comments

I loved my first Canada 150 bag. I used Emmaline Bags’ Miss Maggie pattern.

I even enjoyed making a second and third Canada bag similar to my first bag.

I still wanted to have a Canada 150 bag just for me. So, this is my last Canada 150 bag. There will only ever be four of these made by me.

Things I Love

There are things I love about this bag – the pattern is free. (Have to love that.) The snaps bring it in, giving it a great shape. I really like the strap anchors, especially the Long Johns. This photo shows both the shape and the anchors.

I also love the bling I used like the sewn label, the leather maple leaf, the leather tassel, and handmade hanging tag.

In making these, I found I really liked the two-toned look of the second bag. I found the two-tones made it pop more.

Possibilities and Changes

I do want to include a zipper pocket inside as well as the slip pocket inside.

I’m thinking of changing the side snaps so they’re permanent by using rivets to create that shape. They won’t unsnap, and we’ll have to see if I mind that or not.

Canada 150 Take Four

So, after a little though of just what I wanted to include, here’s my final Canada 150 Miss Maggie bag: 

I went with a solid pattern because I didn’t have enough material left over from my other bags to do the two-toned look.

 I added a Sewn label, but just to keep all the bags individual, I put it in the bottom corner of the bag. I made a leather tassel. The first bag had 1/8″ fringes, this one has 1/4″ – again, just to add little touches to make them all different. This tassel is longer too.

Of course, the Handmade hanging tag. I love some bling.

I really love a back pocket, whether it’s a slip pocket or a zippered pocket. But I decided not to include one on this bag so as not take the focus away from the Long John Strap Anchors.

I saw a wonderful blog tutorial on Chris W’s Designs’ blog – Jazzy Straps. I loved Ellen’s straps. Mine aren’t as vibrant with contrasting colors, but I still love how they turned out. I took the regular 20″ length of the straps and added another 10″. The length is perfect for me for a shoulder bag. 

On the inside of the bag, I’ve made a slip pocket (not shown) which is included in the pattern, but also added a zippered pocket. I used the tutorial from Emmaline Bags for that. You can find that here. Just look at all those maple leafs!

I did add rivets to bring the sides in and secure them on this bag. I’m super happy with that part of my new Canada 150 handbag too. As well, I included a magnetic clasp for a closure.

Something all four bags have had in common is the bag feet I’ve used for them. I love these little feet. So much detail, but they don’t get seen very much. I kept forgetting to show them too.

Such a pretty detail.

All the hardware for my bag (except the feet) came from Emmaline Bags. The feet I found on Etsy but the store no longer has these. I’ll have to look for them again somewhere else. They are adorable.

If you follow my blog, you might be wondering if Em’s Watson bralette fit her.

Was it Bow-Worthy?

Em’s Watson fit her perfectly. However, it will remain bow-less.

Em said she wasn’t going to take it off after trying it on. She said it was more comfortable than the very-well-known-big-name bralette she’d been wearing! That made me feel really good. We already have her next one in the planning. Not only that, but now her Mom wants one too. However, before Em or her Mom get a bralette, I have some bra drafting/sewing to do for me.

Happy Creating!