So! I’ve been meaning to make Amy Butler‘s reversible Chelsea handbag for well over six months now. In fact, this was my second sewing goal for 2009. I bought the fabric way back in November, and it’s been sitting in my closet since then. I finally got the pattern through macFab Fabrics a couple of weeks ago, and thought I’d take advantage of the long weekend and spend part of the time being creative. And, after a good long day of cutting material, pressing material, sewing material together and cursing my sewing machine for not wanting to go through thicker amounts of fabric, I finished my purse!
I’m pretty happy with it, all things considered. This was a more complex project than anything else I’ve done before. I’ve never had to deal with things like handles, so I’m not 100% happy with how they turned out, but if the handbag works well for me, then I’ll do a much better job next time I make it – I love the style and other than the couple of hurdles it wasn’t very difficult, so I could see this as something I would make again already. Plus, it’s a good size for fitting a paperback in, and we all know that’s one of the main considerations when looking at purses. ;)
Next time I go visit my parents, however, I will be borrowing my mother’s sewing machine for a bit to fix up some areas around the top of the purse where I had some issues. My sewing machine doesn’t work well when I want it to go through a bunch of layers of thick fabric, so the stitching doesn’t look as nice as it could…
But other than those two things, I’m really happy with how it turned out! One of the things that I really really liked about this handbag is the fact that it’s reversible, so while I love the fabric I’ve used on the outside of the purse, I also really love the stuff used for the inside, and if the outside doesn’t match what I’m wearing, I can always turn it inside out:
