Full and honest review:
The #shopsample is done. This is the second bag made from
the “Signature Bags” book by Michelle Golightly, the “Free-Spirit Drawstring
Purse”. I was asked to review the book for the shop by making a couple of the
patterns in it. It is an “Experienced” level bag pattern. I chose to make the
larger size. It had a couple of firsts for me, those being piping and a buckle.
Both went relatively well. There were two sizes of grommets used. I was fine
with the small ones in the strap, but the large ones in the body were a bit of
trouble. I managed to mangle the first one I tried to set; it would not bend
all the way down to grab the other piece. I then lost a piece of a second one (which
I found after the bag was done, of course) which left me two short. I had to
reposition them all which changes how the bag closes a bit so it doesn’t look
the same as the one in the book. The ruffles definitely changed how I had to
set the grommets and for some reason, they did not want to bend properly. In
the end, I did a square of tight zigzag around each cut hole, then put the
grommets in. The pattern recommended whip stitching by hand around the holes,
but I did not have time, nor patience to do that. #bagmaking @provocottonshop
**Opinions** This is not a bag I would make for myself to
use. I am pretty practical, and this bag is a little too fussy for me, I don’t
care for how it hangs on my body and I need more pockets. It’s cute, for sure,
just not my style. The shop was provided with hardware for two specific bags
and the co-worker who I made it for chose this one over the other style. For the
other bag I made I used my own supplies, as it was a birthday gift and I wanted
to make as sure as possible the recipient would use it. It was not one of the
bags for which the hardware was provided.
**Book Review** At first skim, I liked what I saw. Good
diagrams, good overview at the beginning, it looked like it would flow well. The
first couple of sections are helpful, describing terms, and giving some
explanations on how to put in hardware, though they only had pictures for two
types. The diagrams were good and helpful over all, in both patterns I made. As
with most books, I was only interested in about 1/4 - 1/3 of the projects
offered, but enough that I would have purchased had I been in the market for a
new bag book. I liked that hardware kits
are available on the website (http://golightlysewingstudio.
As she says in the intro,
skill levels are subjective, so my first bag (“Double Take Clutch”) while, it
seemed to me, NOT to be a beginner bag, for others it may be fine. But, making
the first bag for me, was frustrating. A
lot of the steps seemed to make the process harder than it needed to be. That
could be my inexperience with making a very specific style of zippered bag (one
piece exterior rather than 2), although I have made many other types of zippered
bags so it seemed like there should have been a less complicated way of doing
it. I would like to make it again to see if that way is the only way to do it.
I altered the hardware on the handle to what I had on hand.
In the second bag (“Free-Spirit Drawstring Purse”) a couple
of things definitely required experience (as assumed in the skill level), as
there were not instructions on smaller processes within the pattern. Had I not done
a given step before, I would have had to look it up, however for the most part
the basics were in the introduction (gathering, for example). (*I failed to do my usual note-taking process
while doing this, so I am having to rely on what details I remember, and
specifics are not coming to me at this time.)
I like having as many views of the finished bag as possible.
That was lacking for me. This may not be a common requirement though.All said and done, I am 75% sure I would recommend the book for the shop to carry. I both liked and did not like it. With a limited number of books we can acquire to sell, I am glad it is not up to me to make final decisions.
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