Esther’s Carrie Purse

I have a huge love for colour. Colourful clothing excites me, I’m always drawn to the brightest fabrics.

But I’ve been playing around with the idea of settling down a little and making mini capsules or a collection focused on a few colours. And I can say that this month’s fabric would have been the perfect show stopper in my capsule. 

This fabric fits in nicely with my wardrobe full of reds, pinks and oranges. I loved the burst of colours on this fabric so much that it was a huge struggle to determine what to make. As I type this, I am on my way to Turkey on holiday and I so wanted to make a piece for my holiday. 

The weather in Turkey is about 32 degree celsius which is absolutely amazing compared to the confusing June weather we have experienced in the UK. Anyway, I got to thinking of what to make for my holiday, bearing in mind that I had limited fabric, I initially thought of making a pair of shorts. That would have been a bold move for me as I haven’t really worn shorts in my adult life. 

As I considered making some cute shorts for the beach and swimming pool, I went to my favourite place for inspiration – Instagram. And I found a number of options. The Foxie Boxies stood out to me but I feared I’d need more fabric than I had to make the beautifully high waist shorts. 

Back to the drawing board, I decided to expand to my options outside clothes and it became apparent to me that a bag was going to be the perfect option. The fabric was so beautiful that the bag would stand out and my styling options would be enormous. 

My first thought was the Pisa bow bag by Kate Eva Designs. I have made a number of them and I like the pattern. I decided to dig deeper and see if I would fall in love with a new to me pattern. And I did! 

I saw the Carrie purse by Styles In The Seams and decided that was the one! I quickly went to work making the pattern. Pressing the fabric was easy and cutting out was even easier. 

I found this to be a relatively easy sew. I used the fabric for both the main body and the lining pieces. To increase stability, I interfaced the lining pieces. I enjoyed the sewing process but felt like the pattern could have done with more notches, there’s a little bit left to one’s discretion which I’m not a fan of. 

I finally got to use the pack of magnetic snaps that have sat unused in my sewing desk for a while now. I was glad there were instructions on what to do, I don’t know why I feared the instructions would just say “now insert the snaps” and I would have to search all over YouTube for a tutorial. Thankfully, this pattern did not leave me on my own. I made a mistake when I attached the ties to the main body, hence my desire for more notches. Anyway, I was able to correct things with my lining but I’d like to make it again and correct my error. I love this purse and think it fits right into my wardrobe.