A handbag!

I recently bought a handbag pattern from Charlie's Aunt on Etsy (Morston Key Messenger Bag). Now, I am not a handbag person. My 'handbag' is a canvas haversack that I have had for over 20 years and has been everywhere with me. However the patterns at Charlie's Aunt are rather unusual and not the norm. That was always going to appeal to me. So I bought myself some small amounts of tweed fabric in bright colours and gave it a shot. I think it turned out quite well.

I felt the bag would be a little big for my tastes so I shrunk the pattern down a little, just to 75 percent using the 'custom scale' settings in Adobe Reader's 'Print' settings. Now the finished bag is just the right size for me. The instructions are simple to follow and the tweed was not too difficult to work with using the sewing machine. I struggled a bit making the strap (a combination of multiple layers of tweed, interfacing and a narrow surface area) but I got there in the end - and it even worked out cheaper than buying a leather strap.

I may add a couple of handmade buttons to the tap and the pocket in the future. The jury is out on that right now. Truth is I'm wallowing in self satisfaction at making such a nice bag. Thanks, Charlie's Aunt.