Little Fancy Purses in Cotton + Steel

As previously mentioned, the other day I whipped up a couple of Little Fancy Purses from the book Handmade Bags In Natural Fabrics by Emiko Takahashi. Even though the patterns in this book are meant to be hand sewn, I found it easy enough to machine sew these little bags instead. I used a Cotton + Steel fat quarter for the exterior, and scraps from my Spark Double Gauze Belcarra Blouse for the interior. In retrospect, the double gauze wasn’t the best choice for the lining.

The lining piece is longer than the interior, and is cleverly folded and sewn to make the drawstring casing. I had a bit of a hard time making the casings, because I cut out the pattern pieces without reading the directions closely. The templates in this book do not include seam allowances! I was supposed to add 3/8” inch seam allowances to the templates, but didn’t realize it until after the pieces were cut. I wasn’t about to waste precious double gauze scraps, so I forged ahead. When it came time to fold and sew the casing, the double gauze did not want to cooperate. Luckily, I was able to use Wonder Tape to get it to behave. I think they turned out rather well, all things considered. They are super cute, but in the future, I’ll make my own bigger version. Incidentally, while scrolling through my Bags Pinterest board the other day, I realized that the technique this book uses is very similar to the Pretty Drawstring Pouch from A Spoonful of Sugar that I pinned last year. Small world. I’m looking forward to making more bags from this book, especially the Eco Bag.

Speaking of books, be sure to check out this month's Sew the Library link-up at Weekend Doings.