Parcel Pattern #7 Handbags Blog Tour

Hello friends, followers and visitors, I am participating in the Parcel Pattern Blog Tour, which is for handbags this month. I could choose any of the 6 bags that are part of this tour to make. Well since I have already made 3 of the bags before, Evelyn, Midtown Messenger and the Butterfly Sling, I decided to make the Betty Bowler Bag by Swoon. If you want to see the 2 Evelyn bags that I made please go here and here. The Midtown Messenger Bag I made is here. The Butterfly Sling I made is here.

Below is a collage of all the bags in this parcel. At the end of this post you will find out how you can purchase the Pattern Parcel #7 and more information how the Pattern Parcels work. Some of the proceeds goes to charity, so this is a worthwhile cause too.

Below is the Betty Bowler Bag that I made. I did made a few small changes to my bag. I quilted my bag using a variegated thread and I used headliner foam. I also didn't add the center 2 stripe fabrics because I thought this bag was just asking for a couple of outside slip pockets, so I added one on each side between the handles. I wasn't sure how tall I wanted the pocket, so I based the pocket size on the large stripe of fabric and just folded it in half. I added interfacing to the pocket and a lace trim too. It looks like I could have made the pocket taller, but it's actually a good pocket depth as it is. Another change I made was to make the zipper tabs that you grab on to for zipping and unzipping the bag a bit larger. I don't have large hands, but the tabs seemed a bit too small to me. The large long pocket that is in the inside of the bag I divided in half to form 2 pockets as one long pocket seemed a bit too much. None were difficult changes to make. I really like the shape and size of the Betty Bowler. It's a great size bag for using as an overnight bag or even a diaper/nappy bag. For my purposes it will make a nice knitting or sewing project bag to take to my groups. The instructions were well written and the only difficult part for me was doing the piping because I used store bought piping and I had to adjust to where to place it or it would have been enclosed into the seams. That's the one thing the pattern doesn't tell you where to place your piping on the fabric pieces if using a store bought piping.

The Betty Bowler front side with zipper pocket and I added a slip pocket with lace trim too.

I made my zipper grab tabs larger (wider and longer) than the instructions tell you to because I thought at 1/2" wide they were a bit too small to grab a hold of for me.

I always make my own beaded zipper pulls. This one is on the front pocket.

This is the main zipper pull.

Inside is a long slip pocket that I divided into 2 sections because I thought a divided pocket was more useful to me.

The back of the Betty Bowler is the same except there is no zippered pocket here.

Parcel #7 includes:

• Barcelona Bag and Wallet by Pat Bravo 
• Butterfly Sling Purse by Emmaline Patterns 
• Evelyn Handbag by ChrisW Designs 
• Midtown Messenger Bag by Betz White 
• Betty Bowler by Swoon Sewing Patterns 
• BONUS PATTERN: Daphne Bag by Clover & Violet 

Bonus Pattern:

Choose a price of $32 or greater for Parcel #7 and you will automatically also be sent the Bonus Pattern! That's just over $5 a pattern. The Bonus Pattern for this Parcel is the brand new Daphne Bag pattern from Clover & Violet. The Daphne is a slouchy satchel that can be worn cross body or as a shoulder bag. The zip top keeps your gear secure and the internal pockets keep your accessories where you need them. This is a brand new, never been seen before pattern and is an exclusive opportunity for Parcel #7 customers!

 How Pattern Parcel Works: Here at Perfect Pattern Parcel, we believe in supporting independent pattern designers. It’s our opinion that indie patterns are just, well, better than big box patterns, and we’re pretty sure our customers think so too. So, we allow customers to show their support in naming their own price for each Parcel. We also encourage customers to allocate part of their Parcel price to the charity Donorschoose.org in order to help classrooms in need. Pattern Parcel donates all profits after expenses from Parcel sales to the charity as well. Its our goal to raise over $20,000 for Donors Choose this year.

Be sure to drop by all the participating blogs to see which bag(s) were made:

Friday, November 7 Stitched || Sew Exhausted

Saturday, November 8 Made by Sara ||Oliver's Fancy || Strawberry Patch Ramblings

Sunday, November 9 from a box || Mia's Creations || MOMENTS

Monday, November 10 owen's olivia || While she was sleeping

Tuesday, November 11 Nutta || Radiant Home Studio || La Pantigana

Wednesday, November 12 Sew Fishsticks || Stacy Sews || Stitching Insane || GnomeAngel

Thursday, November 13 Needle and Ted || Patchouli Moon Studio || Sprouting JubeJube || The Crazy Tailor

Friday, November 14 Casa Crafty || A Jennuine Life || 'So, Zo... What do you know?'

Saturday, November 15 Stitches by Laura || Rebekah Sews || Serger Pepper

Sunday, November 16 Blogs Like A Mother || Vicky Myers creations || Blossom Heart Quilts

Monday, November 17 Shanni Loves || So Sew Easy || GYCT Designs || Tiger In A Tornado

Tuesday, November 18 The Nosy Pepper || Keep Calm and Carrion || There & Back || Sewing Sober

Wednesday, November 19 Sew Like My Mom || Knot Sew Normal || Stacy Sews || sewVery

Thursday, November 20 Mimi's Mom || Our Family Four || shades of BOLD || Modern Handcraft

Friday, November 21 Shawnta Sews || Lulu & Celeste || Amanda Rose || Robin's Fabric Nest || House of Pinheiro
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Butterfly Sling Purse

As part of the Bag-a-Month Club I received the pattern for the Butterfly Sling Purse, designed by Janelle of Emmaline Bags. I finished making this bag on Sunday. This bag is like carrying a wallet that is also a bag. Lots of credit card pockets, a zippered pocket that fits cash perfectly, a slip pocket and zippers that keep the credit card pockets closed, plus magnetic snaps to open and close the whole thing too. There's an adjustable strap so you can wear it across your body. Very handy little bag for a woman-on-the-go who needs to bring essentials only with her, like cash and credit cards, library cards, etc. Here is my version of the bag~

I  had some light colored denim that has silver glitter dots all over it, so I decided to use this fabric to make this bag.

I didn't have a twist-lock that the pattern called for so I used a magnetic snap to close the bag and added a pink butterfly button as decoration on the outside. The butterfly button goes along with the bag name and the lining fabric which you will see in the photos that follow.

Looking down into the bag you can see those 2 zippered tops which when opened...

...are the credit card pockets. There are 6 credit card pockets in this zippered section and...

...6 credit card pockets in the other zippered section too, for a total of 12 credit card pockets! See the pink butterfly fabric that I chose as the lining fabric also goes along with the butterfly name of the bag and the butterfly button I sewed to the outside of the bag flap.

This pocket inside fits cash just perfectly. I had the cash inside the pocket, but it was hard to photograph so that you could see it.

When you unsnap the bag it opens up flat like this. Just make sure that you do not have anything in that large slip pocket if you open it like this or it will come tumbling out, lol!!!

This is how the back of the bag looks.

If you know me, my bags are not complete unless I make zipper pulls for the zippers. I made the 2 tops zippers pulls like this one. And if you noticed the pocket that holds the cash has a pink center bead with 2 blue beads like this one but colors are opposite placement. 

If you love this bag and would like to own it, I have it listed for sale in my Zibbet Store. If you want to make this bag yourself you can join the Bag-of-the-Month Club and make your own Butterfly Sling Purse.
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