I spent a good part of last week working on a specific project. Bags!!!!!! Why? Because I told my friend ages ago that I would make her one -- I am now getting around to it. So last week I decided to make it happen.....well, based on my friend's nudging.
This was such a challenge because I was not feeling very inspired so I had no clue where to start. I did know that I wanted to incorporate some leather into the bag. Woohoo......a starting place but I
've never made a bag with leather before so it heightened the challenge. Problem was: Anytime I am not inspired oor havea clear plan it usually means that some fabric will be wasted. So you know what happened next.......I threw away the first cut of fabric. :( Leather proved to be
a little difficult to work with so I put off the leather until I could figure it out and was drawn to clutches.
Here are the results:
Bag#1: I purchased a square piece of fabric recently from one of my favorite craft stores.....Save a Thon. I had no idea what to do with it and then the idea of a clutch came to me. I cut the square in half, lined it with a snazzy oriental like fabric and ended up with this number.
Bag#2: Well I didnt just purchase one of those squares from Save a Thon. I purchased a couple so I decided to make another clutch idea. This one is lined with another square piece. It is an off white suede piece. It feels so great on the inside.
Bag# 3: So then I got a little happy and made another one. This time I wanted to do something a little different to the clutch so I made one with a slanted closure.
Bag#4: So about now I decided that maybe I should go back and try out the leather thing again. Now I was thinking I would use the leather and do something closely associated to vintage. So, here is what I came up with. It is made with a light blue leather material and lined with gold studs. I plan to add a strap to it.
Bag#5: Yeah, I started to get a little excited now. But I left the leather alone again because sewing it was not easy and I had broken a needle....No Bueno! Plus those studs had my fingers hurting. So, I went back to my fabric squares. This time I had picked up a red one. I won't even add a description because this is by far my favorite. It's hot!
I love this!!!!!!! It is a red clutch with a lace top. By the way, all of these bags will be for sale on my etsy store or you can email me.
Bag#6 and #7: I went back to the leather. Leather was still misbehaving and between these two bags I broke another 4 needles. Ugh!!!!!! I was not happy one bit but it taught me that I have to find another approach for sewing leather.
So here are the final two bag creations.
First one: Feathered Leather. Tan leather with black feathers. *Feathers only on front. This bag is not one for sale because the leather was so thick I was not able to sew through it easily or as nicely as I would like. When I come up with a plan to alter this bag a little nicer, I will add it to etsy. I am not sure the picture actually does this bag justice because in person it is some kinda wonderful. If you like to have a piece that's a little different this would be the bag for you. Ooooohhhh Weeeee.......I love it! Just wish the sewing was a little better.
The final bag is also another one of my favorite ones. I added bag handles to this one. I enjoyed making this bag because I wanted to do something vintage with my leather and this bag reminds me of a bag my mom carried when she was younger. I think the handles also take me to that era. I added the studs to make it vintage yet contemporary.
Well you can see how full and eventful my week was. I enjoyed delving into this area and doing something I don't do very often. Now my friend can have her pick of a bag. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. You might know how to sew leather and if so I would really love to hear from you.
DarcyRo.
