Now that I have my sketch, I'm ready to roll, right? So, I grab my tracing paper, and the yuckiest fabric I have, (something easy to work with) and I startby draping my pieces.
I like to start with the hardest & newest element first, since there's apt to be many little changes, and there's no sense wasting time with the other stuff until I get that right. Everything else will be dependent on it, and besides, I just couldn't wait to get playing with that ruching. The photo on the left is my first attempt at the ruching, not the greatest as you can see, but this was some gross canvas I was trying to use up, and it probably wasnt the best choice of fabric to play with at the start. Nevertheless, I at least could see that I had the pattern pieces fit together OK, and a quick test revealed that a loaded Encore Purse Insert would indeed fit inside it.
old cotton I had on a bolt and worked up the rest of the exterior pieces. (The lining is easy and is always last.)
Below is a front view of the same bag. (All in all, not too good.) The bag has a far too squarish silhouette, the Strap holders are uninteresting, and when I placed the loaded Encore Insert inside, it fit OK, but it was not easy to get inside. 
What I'm pleased about though, is that components seem easy on which to make adjustments & I learned a lot from this prototype. It may be a wasted sample, but it certainly wasn't a waste of time!
So it's back to the drawing board tomorrow. I'm not discouraged though. The bag is fairly easy to work up and I know exactly what changes i want to make. Ironically, I actually think large bags are easier to design than small ones, maybe because there's more room to install the components and not as many tight turns and fits?
So what do you think so far? Are you ready to pick up your sketch pad and start draping yourself? Stay tuned for the next installment... maybe tomorrow?
I'm enjoying your purse evolution! I try to come up with my own ideas too but it's fun to see someone elses endeavors. I'm looking forward to the end result!
ReplyDeleteKat,
ReplyDeleteI'm agreeing with Karol from the studiokat yahoo group -- the oval piece is too small for the ruching to show at the "edge" of the purse.
You have undoubtedly figured this out, but just in case...
I think you'll want a squarish oval that is about the size of the footprint of the insert; then the ruching will flow up around the edge, creating the room at the top part of the purse, so the insert will go in more easily.
I really like the motion visually created with the rounded bottom and the ruched edges.
I'm betting once you get that shape right, you'll find some extra storage opportunities on the inside ends -- perhaps some gusseted pockets on the inside, or ruched (via elastic) straps to hold water bottle or something somewhat bulky.
Anna in Albuquerque