A Few Projects I've Made

Hi all, Philip suggested I should share my most recent purse project, so I thought I'd share one or two others as well. I have been designing and making purses, also pen/pencil cases. My stitching is definitely improving, as are my edge finishing skills. Here are a couple of the recent pen cases:

The top one is a red calf, lined with soft green suede. It fastens with a sam browne stud and slot and is stitched with deep green linen. The second is a beautiful Italian leather with a soft, slightly nubuck feel, which I left unlined (as the back was also gorgeously suede-like). This also has a sam browne stud and slot fastening and is stitched with a light brown linen. I burnished the fold-over flap, to give an interesting contrast of appearance and texture. I've made a lot of these pen cases now. Each is different and the stitching and design has improved a little each time.

I made two little frame purses. They have soft leather outers and are lined with suede in tones to match the bobbles on the purse clips. Both were entirely hand stitched. Room for improvement (I bought more purse frames because I liked these and they sold immediately), but I was pleased with my first attempts. I modified my pattern slightly between the green and the pink purse, to give a better shape.

Lastly, I designed a leather purse/wallet, with two main sections and gussets to give space. There is a double card-holder stitched to the lining of the back/flap, which will hold up to four cards. The purse fastens with a metal press stud. I learned a lot from this project - especially how to deal with the card holder, attaching and sewing multiple layers and how to make and attach straight gussets. The gussets were a bit tricky, but worked pretty well, however I need to work at getting the corners level with the flat panels. I also should have lined the leather for the front panel and the inside divider, as they are a little bit soft and inclined to sink. I didn't finish the edges of the purse, but think I will do. Overall though, I am pleased with the first attempt and am going to make more.

Thank you for looking! Liz