I made myself a Styles In Seams Carrie Purse for Valentines Day! Such a great scrap busting project! I used red velvet scraps from my Christmas dress for the main body of the purse and polka dot cotton scraps from my Sewn Magazine Christmas dress for the lining. Don’t throw away your scraps guys!
I was a tester when this pattern first launched. The mini size is what drew me to it. I don’t like big bags anymore especially since I no longer work in the office. I like little cutesy purses and cross body bags. I really only need to take around my phone, cash and cards (and maybe a little snack) so this is the perfect size for me. I am also a shortie and find that larger bags overpower my frame. So a mini purse like this is right up my alley!
Now let’s talk about those cute tie straps! How adorable! I love any sort of bows and ties. On garments, on accessories… anywhere really! This design is very ‘Keira-esque’! The knot makes it super easy to hold and carry around too. Just a perfect little purse pattern for me really! And I especially love how luxurious it looks in this red velvet. Can Christmas come already? I mean I’ll probably be wearing this every day in December!
We are on lockdown here in Barbados right now… and we just heard it’s been extended too… ugh! There was no way for me to get the correct interfacing. I clearly learnt nothing from my tester version! I really need to order a bolt of fusible fleece to keep on hand! I had to improvise and use felt again this time. At least I learnt from my tester version to keep the felt out of the seams. Duh Keira! Don’t judge me, I hadn’t made anything like this before my tester version okay! So I cut my felt for my main body pieces as well as the part of the straps that lay on the base of the bag, making sure to cut excluding the seam allowances. Since my felt isn’t fusible, I then fused regular hard interfacing over the felt so secure it to the bag. I love the structure the felt adds! I prefer a purse that stands on its own. I always have, even as a teenager. I was never into the hobo type of styles. It’s just a personal preference really. So I am happy I chose to improvise with the felt.
Since my fabric is stretch velvet, it did cause some trouble especially when sewing on the straps. One of my bottom corners is so not rounded and I really didn’t want to unpick velvet so I let it slide. My straps were doing all sorts of puckering and ruching (luckily it looks like a style) and they refused to keep the correct seam allowance. Then there’s the issue of the fabric stretching when trying to open the magnetic snap. Moral of the story: please don’t use stretchy fabric! That being said, this little purse is imperfect but I love it! No one will know! And with this pandemic, they shouldn’t be that close anyway!
Lucky for you… Robyn has generously donated some Carrie Purse patterns to give away during the #bhmpatterndesigners challenge. Nateida has already wrapped up her giveaway over on her Youtube channel, there is one included in the prize pack at the end of the challenge, and here is my giveaway! You can enter my giveaway on Instagram and Youtube, so 2 entries! The giveaway will end on Friday 19th February at 11:59pm ast. Good luck!
Toodle-loo
Keira
Love both of your purses.
I also love to enter contests (seldom win anything) but I won’t be waiting to see if I won a purse cuz I will be ordering this purse pattern this evening. It ticks all the boxes on my list – although I have never sewn a purse I guess its time to correct my oversight.
We are also “still” in the middle of a lockdown – Ontario, Canada
Stay safe and healthly.
Author
Thank you so much! This one is a really good one to start with if you’ve never sewn a purse before. Robyn is also very helpful.. if you run into any trouble just shoot her a message! I had no idea you were still on lockdown over there. Stay safe!