Hooray for Handbags

About 2 months ago, I got this crazy notion to sew this cute Heather Bailey handbag that I'd seen online. If you knew me, you might know how ridiculous this seemed. Mom of 4 boys? Check. Wears jeans, a t-shirt, and a ponytail every single day? Check. Didn't own a purse till sometime in college? Check. Current purse: years old, hand-me-down, doubles as diaper bag? Check. Upon first glance, things were not looking good.

I'm a girl with my fair share of hobbies, but typically sewing isn't something I do in my free time (more on that later). Because again, I have four sons. When fabric arrives on my doorstep, I do not have anyone beg me to make them a cute skirt. Boo.

Anyway, I thought about it, and finally decided to order the pattern, hoping it wouldn't be crazy hard.

The pattern came in the mail, after which I hemmed and hawed (Get it? Hemmed? A little sewing humor . . . ) over fabric choices for like a week, proving my husband's point that I'm the worst decision maker ever. My mom, a good sewer, happened to come to the fabric store with me when I was picking up notions. I let her have a look at the pattern. "What do you think?" I said. "Can I do it?"

Now here comes the proof that I don't typically sew in my free time. She says to me, and I quote, "Well, you weren't exactly the Queen of Home Ec . . . "

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmm, thanks?

Well, I've proven her wrong. See?


So cute! Now, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. It's not perfect. Not even close. See those, um, less than professional looking, wavy stitch lines? Yep. Not an advance sewer.


But no one knows unless they look closely, which they don't! They look at it from afar (well, 2 feet is far enough away), make compliments galore, and tell me to sell them on Etsy. You and I know the real reason why I will not be doing that.

Just take a look at the pretty flower and pretend that this was sewn by some kind of expert, will you?


Possibly best of all, it's reversible! Hallelujah! Unfortunately that of course means that there can be no pockets of any sort on the inside, but a girl's gotta sacrifice sometimes for cuteness.


Now for the bad news. Unfortunately, it's a handbag, which literally means I have to hold it with my hands! What the? As anyone with kids can guess, I don't have a lot of time where my hands are free. So in the end, I probably won't get to use it too much. Oh well, I'll be styling once a week at church, and that should be good enough for me. Right?

So, if you're into this bag, give it a shot. You can do it. Really. You can find the pattern in my Etsy or eBay stores, along with some very cute fabric choices. Enjoy!