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Purse Palooza :: Pattern Review: Suzuko Koseki’s Patchwork Style

This post is part of Purse Palooza 2012.
For full schedule of guest post pattern reviews and prizes, click here!

Kerry from verykerryberry is a patchwork and paper piecing master! You can see some of her project tutorials here. She also co-authors another blog called Sew-Ichigo. Cute and creative overload! Check it out!!

Hi, I am Kerry from verykerryberry, thankyou to Sara for inviting me to take part in Purse Palooza.  I have really enjoyed seeing the enormous range of bags and techniques covered so far.  I chose to make a little bag that I have been wanting to sew for at least two years; a cross over convertible waist bag from Suzuko Koseki’s book Patchwork Style.
As with many of Suzuko’s books, it is all about diagrams.  I have the Japanese version so I follow the pictures and I like working in this way, looking at the line drawings, scrutinising the measurements and the order of construction.  The translated version must be easier to follow but I managed fine with diagrams.  In this version, measurements were metric so I converted to inches to fit in with my quilt rulers.  You need to draw a template paper pattern for the main sections. 
I used a mix of quilting cottons and linen prints, many of my favourite Suzuko prints came out to play! I used a mix of battings and interfacing.
  • Warm and Natural 80/20 for the outer pockets front and back
  • Fusible Fleece Vilene 640 and for the bag front and back 
  • Lightweight woven cotton iron on interfacing for the strap sleeve and all the linings
I followed the pattern pretty closely in terms of cutting directions and fabrics and it is pretty straightforward.  All the Japanese patterns i have used have a good range of photos and diagrams and if you study them closely, generally all the info that you need is there.  I make little pencil notes in the book to make sure I know exactly what happens in each stage of the construction.  
I left out a ribbon trim that would’ve gone along the edge of the pockets as I didn’t have any suitable tape.   The fastening is straightforward with a magnetic snap.  You could use a sew in or the traditional pliers sort of fastening or even replace with velcro.    I moved the magnet down an extra 1/4 inch from the original pattern position so it was well away from a the topstitching line around the top of the bag. The strap runs through a sleeve on the back and can also be clipped into the side loops.
I improvised a little with the hardware for this bag.  The strap was from another old bag and I used a zigzag stitch down the centre to link it in with the fabrics  that I had used.  I used a shoe lace for the loops which make the bag convert from a waist bag to a cross body/shoulder bag.
As the pattern is quite simple, it would be easy to play around with it and make it larger, change the pocket size etc.  It has turned out to be incredibly useful.  Having pockets on the front and back make it great for dog walking- all the different places to put keys/phone/dog bags!  And I have used it for other quick trips out and it is so small and neat.  Suzuko Koseki’s books are a mix of inspiration and patterns and Patchwork Style is my favourite!
sib blog

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16 thoughts on “Purse Palooza :: Pattern Review: Suzuko Koseki’s Patchwork Style

  1. Ginger says:

    I have a similar little bag that I bought at a craft fair thinking to duplicate it and never got it finished. Thanks for your post maybe it will get me motivated to get going on it.

  2. Jolana says:

    Cute!!! Lovely bag 🙂

  3. eva says:

    I love the bag – it´s perfect and so cute!

  4. Thank you for the review. I have the book, so will have a look at it (:

  5. Katy Cameron says:

    Very nice, and so very Kerry, I can just see this paired up with her floaty dresses!

  6. I am so making some of these! Yours are gorgeous!!!

  7. It looks great!I have the book in Japanese too and have been wanting to make this one~
    🙂

  8. Karen says:

    Looks lovely – alas I don’t have the book, but will have to try to get my hands on it now! Thanks Kerry!

  9. Pamela Nees says:

    Very, very nice. I just might have to make one. Looks easy enough with your diagrams!

  10. Love the zigzagging. And thanks for posting the length/width in your notes for all to see!!

  11. Thankyou all for such lovely comments! It is one of my top time favourite books, always a good one to come back too for inspiration and practical projects and even in Japanese, it is a relatively straightforward project

  12. Patti says:

    Love love love it. Thank you so much for sharing and for the link to Amazon UK!
    Patti xxx

  13. elnorac says:

    Lovely review and a fantastic bag! If a person wants to make that type of loop for the strap and doesn’t have a shoe string, I’ve discovered that the thick-ish braided cord often used for drawstrings sometimes has a core of round, fairly smooth-surfaced cord that would work nicely. It can be pulled out with tweezers. Mind you, not every cord has the core, but many do.

    Thanks for giving me the inspiration to finally tackle that bag, Kerry!

  14. Lee says:

    Such a sweet bag. thanks for the review!

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