Spring Purse: A Lesson In Brocade

Created with the New Look pattern 6738 that I picked up nearly a year ago, this purse was a quick weekend project to bring a little spring into my world. It turned out to be a lesson in working with Brocade fabric as well. The purse threatened to be a disaster several times in the making but, with some quick thinking and putting to use some of my craft miscellany, it came through a true beauty to accent my pink spring trench coat.

Even though I used the recommended 70/10 H needle suggested in Sandra Betzina's "More Fabric Savvy" I still ended up with some annoyingly large holes in the fabric where the needle went through. My remedy? I found some matching pink floss in my stash and hand embroidered a backstitch along the seamline where the needle went in. If you really examine the purse, the holes are still slightly visible but much more masked with the backstitching and I think it accents the purse quite nicely.

After realizing that Brocade is a pretty difficult fabric to work with for this reason, I proceeded to hand sew the rest of the pieces with transparent thread and a very fine needle.

The last problem was where I was going to find a heavy ring for the front strap of the purse (can you spot it on the pattern envelope)? Oops. I started a project again without all of the recommended supplies. Oh well, I used two old, ugly brass O rings (what else would I have used them for?) and tied a simple knot over and over around them in the same matching floss.

I love it. It is lined with a hot pink, inexpensive costume satin that I bought around Halloween. It was so pretty when I finished that I considered not even wearing it but for special occasions.


But then I realized that if I only use it that often, I'll never have an excuse to make another. And a girl can always use a new purse, don't you think?