Birdie Sling

I took a break from making the Delilah TOM, and made a much needed purse/tote for myself.  Now I’ve already made an Amy Butler Birdie Sling purse/tote, but wasn’t thrilled with some aspects of the purse.  I really like the design, so decided to customize it for my usage.

Here is a picture of the finished purse/tote

This suits me much better, and I think it still looks a lot like the original.  The changes?

1.  I altered the main panel so that it would fit on the fold of a 44″ wide piece of fabric.  This uses much, much less fabric, and I did it by folding the panel pattern piece  in 1″ on the edge that is supposed to be on the fold.

2.  Enlarged the small pockets so my cell phone would fit.  I made them a little wider and longer, and just made it when it came time to sew the gussets.

3.  Made 2 pleats across the top panel instead of 6.  This is a large purse/tote, but with 6 pleats, the top opening was pretty small.  It was hard to put large items inside.  Problem solved.

4.  The top band pattern had to be larger as the panel had less pleats.  I added 1″ on the band pattern piece at the fold, so got an additional 2″ for each piece.

5.  Removed 1″ in width for the base of the strap, and also added length to it.  I redrew the strap pattern piece, and the length is now 31″ + seam allowances.  I still think the base of the handle is too wide, and might change that the next time around.

6.  The handle was also made a lot wider at the shoulder.  I find a wider handle distributes the weight better on my shoulder.  Mine is now 4″ at the shoulder, and I fold it over for a 2″ doubled section that is nicely padded.

7.  I also eliminated the fusible fleece.  I don’t like a purse/tote that is too stiff and bulky.  This drapes nicely against my body,

Lots of changes, true?  And now comes the time of a big belly laugh. I happen to have a sewing machine with at timer on it.  It keeps track of how long the needle goes up and down.  It took me four 2-3 hour days to make this purse.  Fusing, redrafting pattern pieces, fusing, sewing, fusing, a little more sewing.  Can you tell most of the time was spent with fusing?  I would dearly and purely love a fusing fairy to move into my home when I make a project like this.

Back to time for the big belly laugh though.  It took a whole 41 minutes of actual sewing time to make this purse.  Yes, a mere 41 minutes.  Who would have thought?

Hugs…