My Blossom Shoulder Bag - Part 1

I needed a new handbag for daily use. Instead of buying one , I thought of making one myself (to show off my sewing work)
Leafing through Amy Butler's "Style Stitches", I decided to go for the Blossom Bag.
This bag seemed to have a lot of room and could be closed to keep pick pockets away.
My fabric choice: for the exterior I chose a warm brown faux suede; the printed cotton like shown in the book is much nicer and fresher, but difficult to keep clean when used daily.
For the lining I used a gorgeous matching Philip Jacobs fabric. (Just wait till you see the pictures)
For the divider panels I couldn't find the exact beige colour matching the lining so I chose a mauve fabric, coordinating with the flowers of the lining.
First , I cut out all the pieces: I numbered the pattern pieces, the fabric and the interfacing, to keep the right parts together:

For the interfacing I used Vilene H250 (fusible) and Vilene S520 , a fusible heavy stabilizer.

Although it is not suggested in the book (step 2-3) I also applied interfacing to the lining pieces.

Next, I installed the male part of the magnetic snap on the lining side of the flap and the female half on the right side of the exterior main panel.

I added an extra small piece of reinforcement to support the snap.

Then I moved on to step 5: the handle brackets. This is easy, just follow the steps in the book. I used lining fabric for these brackets, to add a contrasting detail to the exterior of the bag.

Here are some pictures:

Then I made the handles, the tie ends and the tags.

More about that in my next post.

Kristien