It’s less than 90 days until the Dressmaker’s Ball. I have my dress finished, my shoes picked out, my hat created, and now finally my purse. I made this purse on a whim, because I had this fabulous Vintage Simplicity fabric which I had bought on clearance at JoAnns. I realized how cute it is that the novelty print features many different sewing pattern ladies wearing dresses. Of course, this fabric would be perfect for a fun seamstress-y/ dress event!
I found a link to a free sewing pattern on Pinterest, by Sewing Times. I made my purse more simple, without the pockets.
I gathered up some supplies including these cute rhinestone flower details I bought on sale at Hobby Lobby years ago. I sewed them throughout the fabric to add a bit of bling. In the beginning I was considering a fringe trim at the bottom, but ultimately decided to forego the idea.
Next, my husband and I went on a thrift shopping adventure. I found this Chanel inspired purse. The photo does not do justice to the fact the bag is pretty beat up and worn. I purchased it for a deep discount and Joe proceeded to remove the strap with help of pliers to the chain. We washed the chain in dawn dish soap and warm water which did wonders to shining it up and making it much cleaner and sanitary for the big revamp of the strap’s life.
We ended up cutting the chain in half, so I will still have another chain for a future project!
Below is the finished purse. I think it turned out very cute! I especially favor the side where the one lady has the white cat eye sunglasses she is taking off. I like that each side of the bag has different ladies showing. The pink zipper was from my stash and it adds such a cute pop of color. I sewed two gold “coat of arms” buttons on either end to make it look like fancy hardware. The buttons also disguise some of the hand stitching I had to do to get the strap attached. My sewing machine needle broke trying to sew it on, so I finally decided some strong hand sewing was in order.
Ultimately, my whim of a sewing project turned out to result in an extremely affordable and unique custom accessory. The “Chanel”-like strap from the old gross bag, is the ultimate find I needed to elevate this project to evening wear level. I can actually see using this for fun occasions outside of the ball. I look forward to sharing my special dress with you in the future. I am actually planning on a youtube video to reveal it, so stay tuned to my blog. Thanks for stopping by.
