VINTAGE FABRIC SUMMER HANDBAG

 On my last post, I showed this pattern.

 I adapted the pattern to make a larger version of the same bag using burlap.

But I kept looking at that pattern and the great vintage-like fabric that the front purse was made out of.  Then I thought about the three 45" square tablecloths I have that came from my Great Aunt Pearl.  I've used them for dinners on the patio, but never in the house because the colors have never matched our kitchen or dining room.   They have some spots here and there that won't come out in the wash so they've been folded up in the linen closet for several years, no longer used.  But they're made of a great fabric and there are some big areas that have no spots.  I'm sure there's lots of cotton in it but there's something else too because the fabric has great drape and body.  Maybe linen?

So I dug those out today and got started with a new purse.  This one is for my mom who I'll be seeing this week.  It will be especially meaningful for her because Aunt Pearl was from mom's side of the family, AND she was mom's favorite aunt!

So.

I made my own pattern and kind of made it up as I went along, but it was very easy!  You could make it too!  I started out trying to write my own tutorial, but I KNOW it was too hard to follow.  It was so bad that I probably would have lost some followers!!!

So, I decided to spare you.

You need diagrams and I only had photos.  So, I started surfing around to see if there was one already written that would be similar.  If you go to this FANTASTIC website, you'll find 45 FREE handbag tutorials, complete with diagrams.  You could make something very close to mine with some of these.  I know that I'll be going back to that website myself - it's filled with great ideas for beginners as well as advanced seamstresses!

So, here are the two main fabrics I used - on the left is the vintage tablecloth - and on the right is the contrasting fabric I chose. The aqua of the new fabric is an exact match to the stems in the vintage cloth.

I also used a third fabric - a delicate little print.  The bow,  and strap are made from this.

This is the lining side of my bag, made from the contrasting fabric.   Down at the bottom you can see that I sewed "across" the corners to get more shape and a squared-off base.

I added a casing a few inches from the top and ran elastic through it to get a ruffled top.  Then I added a magnetic closure.

The magnet side of the closure faces the inside of the purse, of course.  This leaves the "ugly" side of the closure on the outside of the purse with my pattern.  So I added a bow that covers up the outside of the magnet closure on this side.

And I sewed on a little square of the vintage fabric over the closure on the other side of the purse using the blanket stitch.  

Here it is before I added the strap.

The strap is made of the second contrasting fabric.  I used a heavyweight iron-on interfacing to give it some weight and then top-stitched it all around and machine stitched it to the bag.  

So, now it's done and all ready to be wrapped up as a surprise for my mom!

And she can have a summery, cheery reminder of Aunt Pearl!

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