Purse Palooza – Pattern Review – Sewing Patterns by Mrs. H. Companion Carpet Bag

This post is part of Purse Palooza 2015. For full details and contest rules, check here.
Today’s post is from April Rosenthal of Prairie Grass Studio.

Hello Purse Palooza! My name is April Rosenthal. I’m a quilt pattern and fabric designer, and a terrified purse sewist. I mean it. I’m super scared of sewing bags that are any more than a tote.  When Sara asked me to play along, I must have been feeling quite brave because I said “Sure!” and then immediately thought: “What have I done??​!!”

Luckily, the oh so sweet Samantha of “Sewing Patterns by Mrs. H” jumped into the conversation and offered encouraging words and suggested I review her Companion Carpet Bag pattern. She even sent me the handles and frame I needed! (I have great friends, seriously.)

I got all my materials assembled, but had a hard time finding the Soft and Stable that the pattern calls for at any local shops. I didn’t have time to order it online, but in the future I’ll stock up! Everything else needed was pretty standard interfacings. Samantha suggests in the pattern that the frame is hard to come by sometimes, but offers some websites and resources to help out in that department.

I was intimidated to start, and truth be told, was frustrated when I did. Being the first time I had ever sewn a purse, some of the terminology was new to me, and I was feeling the learning curve. Once I got past the first few instructions–which were actually quite simple and clever–I had a lot of fun sewing this pretty little thing up!

The Carpet Bag is cleverly constructed and comes together easily. I was quite impressed with how well everything matched up and how easy it was to get the curves stitched. I was surprised with how easy and fun it was!

I like how the frame holds the bag open and makes it easy to see inside. No black hole for this purse! Also, the zipper pocket and divided pockets on the inside are a nice touch. I also love the little piping detail on the front.

I need to redo my hand stitching on the handles, as I obviously didn’t sew them well enough to hold up to use. Everything else seems extremely well constructed and durable.

Coming from a bag über-novice–I have nothing but praise for this pattern! I would have loved to be able to zoom in on some of the pictures, but truly, this beginner made this purse start to finish in about 6 hours, and didn’t have to unpick even one seam. I’m going to count that as a victory. J And a second victory? I would definitely make this pattern again.

Thanks “Mrs. H” for the fantastic pattern, and Sara for having me play along and find a new fun hobby!

Xoxo
April

P.S. Please use coupon code PP2015 for 15% off any pattern at Sewing Patterns by Mrs. H.