I made a purse, and then another

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The yellow purse I've been using the last year or so recently started having zipper problems. I've been like 85% happy with the purse overall and I decided I wanted something a little bigger these days, so  before taking it apart to replace the zipper I'd try to make another purse. I liked the look of this tutorial so I used mostly materials from my stash to make one. I did need to buy some interfacing, hardware, and heavier zippers.


I'm fairly happy with the construction. Instead of a magnetic clip I put in a zipper across the top because I don't love magnetic closures. When I toss my purse into the car I don't want stuff spilling out. I also added an internal zippered pocket using the same method as the external pocket.

I used the purse for a few days then realized it was smaller than I expected. It's deeper than the old purse but narrower. Also the nylon strap a bought to save myself the trouble of making a strap was uncomfortable on my neck. 

Enter purse 2.0. The tutorial had a large version of the bag but it was too big for what I wanted so I figured out the finished dimensions I wanted, figured out how much smaller that was than the large tote, and then scaled down the page size when I printed the pattern. I ended up using a pattern that was 86% of the full size. 

Once again I used mostly stuff in my stash to make it. I only had to buy D-rings and a bit more interfacing. I added the D-rings so that I could reuse the strap off the old yellow purse. I also added the internal zipper pocket to this one and the zipper across the top. I made the zipper pulls out of some leather scraps.


I'm much happier with this bag. It's the perfect size for what I need right now in my life. Fits all my regular stuff without feeling too big, and has enough extra room to fit snacks or a water bottle without trouble when I want to throw them in. The faux leather strap is much more comfortable and since it buckles instead of slides to change the length, the strap remains exactly the size I prefer. The keychains I added as zipper pulls clash with the gold hardware of the strap but whatever, I don't really care.

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