Project: Victorian Hand-Bag

I had so much in leftover scraps, so why not?


Most extant hand-bags are either ovals (when closed) or attached to an ornate frame. Not having a frame handy, I've opted for the oval.

(NOTE: The final shape of the bag changed in the process. Please see the end of the blog post for the final shape. All processes remain the same.) 

Some little tassels that I picked up at

 JoAnns for a buck a pair.



You can use either an ornate fabric, or you can embellish the heck out of it. Or both. Up to you. I used fabric leftovers from the skirt, because cutting out gores leaves oodles of scrap behind. Victorian accessories were quite frequently color coordinated, so having the hand-bag matching the skirt isn't at all unusual. Besides, using scraps is cheap. The lining is also scrap, from another project. I found tassels on sale, with colors that almost exactly match the gold and silver of the fabric.



The escutcheon-shape. This is the back of the fabric.



I did some experimenting before I settled on the flat shape that would create that oval bag when closed. I decided on what turns out to be a nicely-proportioned escutcheon shape. Cut 2 out of both the lining and your fashion fabric, and then trim your lining to be just a tiny bit smaller than the fashion fabric.

 

Place each side of the bag and it's lining right sides together, aligning the straight edges of the bag. Pin and sew a narrow seam. Open the pieces out and press the seam.




One side of the bag seamed to its lining.

 


When it's pressed, the seam should
 look like this.

 



Measuring the opening in the lining

Place the two sides of the bag right sides together and mark an opening about 4" long on one side of the lining. Larger if your hand won't fit in it.

Pin tassel(s) to the bottom pint of the bag. For extra security, you might be able to tie a knot in the tassel's cord. I used two tassels on my bag; one is knotted and the other is not, to place them at different heights



Detail of the placement, with a peek at

 the pretty side 





Here's the thing to remember; you're going to place the tassels, upside down in between the layers of fashion fabric. Pin them securely to the bottom layer and then use your fingernails through the top layer to press the cords as close together as you can and then pin them in place. If they are stitched in wonky, they won't fall properly.



The tassel cords pinned in



The green pin holds the tassels to the bottom layer; the red and white ones are holding the cords together.


Place tassles on either side of the bag, at the level where you're (eventually) going to be placing the lacing rings. (See below for those directions.)

You're ready to stitch the halves together. I happen to be a little fussy with thread colors, so I used black on the black fabric, and white on the white. You can take that for what it's worth. Stitch the perimeter of the bag together, remembering to leave the opening in the lining that was marked. When you get to the tassels, back stitch over them to make sure they're adequately caught.   

Stitched together, tassels inside, and hole left open.

Use the lining opening to turn the bag. Press the seams. You can at this point whip stitch the opening closed, or you can use a tiny machine stitch to close it. I did the machine stitch on mine;  I recommend ironing the seam closed and folded, pinning it, and then running it through the machine.

Can you see the stitching at the top?













And now you get to see the nifty fabric!

Turn the lining inside the bag and press that top seam. Again. Notice that we didn't make a casing? Never fear - we're going to place the drawstring in a period fashion, running through rings stitched to the inside of the bag.

I've gathered several types of rings; the bag has the largest jump rings that I could find, and the other two types are just toggle clasps for necklaces. You might also be able to find brass rings in the drapery section of the fabric store.

Turn the bag inside out. Measure and mark the bag about 1/3 of the way between top seam and point. Do the same on the opposite side of the bag.

To make abso-tively sure that you've got the fabric layers matched, pin at several places along the top of the bag. (Those are the pink pins in this picture.) Then measure and mark for the placement of the rings. (And those are the yellow pins.) I've used 5 rings per side on this bag.

Stitch the rings firmly on at even intervals. Lace the rings like this:

1. Cut two lengths of cord, each about 4 times (or more) the width of the bag.
2. Starting at the right side of the bag, lace through all rings until you get back to the beginning, the right side of the bag, once only through each ring. Knot the cords.
3. Do the same starting at the left side of the bag, running the cords through the same rings. You'll have two cords through each ring.
4. Now turn the cords so the knots are inside the bag and rest on the left and right interior seams of the bag.
5. When you pick up the bag by the cords it should automatically pull itself shut.





The revised shape, ready for sewing up.

EDIT: Got the rings installed, got the tassled cords inside the rings, cinched it up... and hated it. Hated the shape, hated what the cords were doing. I took out the rings and turned the thing inside-out, and changed the shape.  It's now narrower, and the top flairs. I also took the opportunity to whipstitch the lining closed, so it's nice and neat, and to put the two tassles - which I'd forgotten - on the sides. (Other than the changed shape, all the directions stay the same.)

The rings I used are shell donut beads that I found at 50% off of $5 at Joann's. The handle is a simple ribbon, double-looped so lifting the bag closes it; pulling on the tassles opens the bag. I'm much more satisfied with the bag now.

Here's the happy ending: