Heather Bailey Charming Handbag

My first handbag project: the “Charming Handbag” from Amy Karol’s Bend the Rules Sewing, made from several Heather Bailey “Pop Garden” fat quarters. Pretty easy to do, once I got my hands on some flannel for the facing.

If I’d made this for myself, I would have used the interior fabric on the outside, but this version’s a gift for my sister who I think will like the green rose print better.

I enjoyed making it, and am proud of myself for following the pattern and directions diligently, for a change. Other than adjusting the scale to make sure I could get both front and back pieces from one FQ, that is. I had a lot of ideas of what I could do differently, but decided to challenge myself to make the original first without messing around with it, and then see what I might want to change.

Couldn’t help myself, though, had to add a little patch pocket on the inside. Every purse should have an interior pocket, don’t you think?

Here’s how it will look in action.

If I ever make this again, I would add a closure of some kind. It gapes open: not a great feature in a purse.

And I do think a band of ribbon trim, as Amy K suggests and shows, would be nicer. But my trim selection is dismal at the moment. Got a couple of nice things in a swap, but they’re not right for this fabric. If I can find something appropriate before my sister shows up for a visit next month I’ll might hand-stitch an embellishment to the front. A fabric rose might be pretty, not that I have a clue how to make one. A few minutes with Google would probably take care of that.

Bottom line, I’m not sure I like it enough to make another one, not with so many other handbag possibilities out there and in my head. But it’s cute enough. I’ll call it a successful start at handbag production.