Here is the next bag I tested this past month.
This bag is the Liliane Bag. I thought it was a cute style, but honestly, I thought it would be much smaller when she showed the picture for testing. I volunteered and then afterwards found that it was a pretty big bag. So be warned. It is 18 inches wide by 14 inches high.
For this bag I used leather (upcycled an old pair of suede pants), a slubby silk and cotton ticking for the lining. I ran out of the leather for both sides of the top part of the bag, so I had to use the silk for that part, too (which I interfaced).
On the exterior piece I cut the leather a bit wider than the pockets to place on top of the cotton ticking, so it looks like it is all leather there, too. It would be a waste to use leather for the whole interior, when you don’t really see much of it.
Another modification was to add twill tape to the underside of the silk handle piece. Suede can stretch and silk is not durable, so I figured this would help in keeping the shape and length of the handle. I basted it to the handle, so it wouldn’t shift.
I like how it turned out…it’s just a bit big. I think it turned out quite pretty, though. I love using silk. This was a silk piece I bought when Mill End Textiles was liquidating. It had some spots on it, so I made sure to cut around those areas.
The pattern instructions are very thorough, so it is pretty easy to put this together. I would suggest to do that on your tablet or computer, as this pattern prints out at 60+ pages.
I think this is a cute purse for dressing up a pair of jeans. I think I need to shoot it with some Scotch Guard or something, though. Not sure if that would put spots on the silk, which would ruin it. Might have to do some testing on scraps of the fabric. I’ll let you know if it works.
That is all I have for testing I did this past month! Now, I have to seriously hunker down and get some costuming done.
