Final Christmas Project

So the final Christmas gift has finally been delivered. This one turned out to be the project from hell but it turned out good in the end, it was just a long road to get there.

This was a large purse I made for a good friend of mine. She carries everything but the kitchen sink in her purse so it needed to be big so that it would be useful to her. Her favorite color is purple so I bought a super chunky purple yarn. It is done in an easy basket weave pattern but it gives the bag a lot of interest since the yarn is plain. Here is a picture before it was blocked, the pattern came out a lot better after blocking.

I did write the pattern down but when I was almost finished with this bag I realized a HUGE design flaw so I'm not going to post the pattern. It didn't occur to me at the time that I should make the flap smaller than the width of the bag and boy did that come back to bite me in the end. I made a thick strap (about 2 inches) and wanted to line that and the bag so it would be durable. I also knew it would be heavy when it was full and didn't want the strap to stretch over time. Also it makes it a bit more fun with the fabric. Well after I lined the bag and the strap (I also used interfacing to give the liner some body) they were pretty stiff. Good for the overall bag but then I couldn't get the strap where I wanted it. I ended up putting the strap completely on the front of the bag (which actually worked out well) but then the flap wouldn't close!! You can imagine my frustration! By then I was ALMOST DONE.

Well after discovering that I had to come up with a solution because I had put too much work into this bag to just trash it. Not to mention this was her main gift! I ended up cutting a square off each side of the flap. I hope it holds up over time but I sewed a few lines near where I cut and used some liquid seam to keep the yarn from fraying. This solved the problem of letting the flap close but as you can imagine was not appealing to look at. My next dilemma was how to cover up what I just mangled.

After a few days of brainstorming it hit me. I used double wide bias tape on the entire flap edge and it actually looked really good. It even gave it a more finished look. Inside the bag I created four pockets so it wasn't just one big open hole. At least you could have a place for the most important things.

When all was said and done the bag came out well, it looks good and sits well on your hip. Haven't gotten the verdict from her yet but I would call it a success even with all the problems I encountered. I don't foresee me ever making the "flap mistake" again.

Here is a picture of the finished bag. This one has the flap open so you can see the fabric and the next one has it closed.