PPC5- A Garden to Go Please!

 (This post is part of a continuing series focusing on the development of a new handbag pattern from its initial conception to it's release.)

So... in our last post, our goal was to clean up the little details and nail down the design, once and for all for this new pattern and I'm very pleased to say, "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED"! Here are the features we corrected this time out. 

• we pretty much redesigned the zippered connectors between the inserts. The new design is MUCH easier to install and is a little less bulky in the seamage.
• The Peltex we added between the layers of fabric on both Credit Card Caddys added just the right amount of desired stiffness to hold up to the elastic safety band. 
• A design modification to the bottom edge of the small Credit Card Caddy allows it to "sit" in the Slot Pocket lower and more securely.
• We changed the design on the envelope-style pocket yet again, but this time we're very pleased with the final look. The fact that it's also easy to construct now is an added bonus.

So with the preliminaries out of the way, let's look at our sample. 

And before we go any further, I've just gotta say...

"This just may be the best fabric I've ever used"!

It's yummy, and bold, and whimsical and the colors are just delicious!  
And doesn't it look completely fabulous on our new purse insert? These fabrics are part of Jane Sassaman's "Early Birds" line. (We'll give you more info about this magical fabric in a later post.)

From the moment I saw this fabric at Quilt Market in Houston last Fall, I totally fell in love with it! You might remember that in one of our post-market reports we displayed this picture of Jane's booth all dressed up in this fabric and we mentioned that we wanted to find a way of incorporating it into a future design. It was a pleasure to work with. 

But back to our design.  :)
Here's our three inserts operating as separate & beautifully individual entities.You can make just one if you want, or all three.  :)

Here's an overhead shot that shows off the interior features very well. And now that we're done tweeking the design, and since this sample is destined to be our cover bag, we can begin mixing and matching these features in different configurations so that you can appreciate all the versatility this design has to offer.  :)

 Here's a picture of our Basic (mid-sized) Insert with it's Credit Card Caddy. There's room for 6 cards on each side of this Caddy.

The partitioned interior of our Thin Insert are clearly visible in this shot. You can also see the small Credit Card Caddy that is stored in it's very own slot pocket.

And here we have the answer to the question that so many of you have been asking. Is there any room in this new insert to store my iPad, my Nook or my Kindle?

And the answer is a resounding... YES!

As you can see, there's plenty of room to stand an iPad in the space BETWEEN the two linked inserts. My concern about this setup, is that you would have to be very careful to set your bag down gently, so for that reason, I was really happy to see...

that not only did it fit very easily into the elastic pockets, but it did so with room to SPARE! (as long as they aren't separated into two pockets with stitching.


I borrowed this iPad from my neighbor for the afternoon, and she had what looked like a a very safe case to store her iPad in (which is not pictured), so I checked to see if the unit would fit into the pocket while it was in it's case, and you know what? It DID!

And what other zipper could we have chosen that would have looked this good alongside this scrumptious fabric than our "Mondocized" striped zippers, which we will of course be making available as a 4.5" separator when we release this pattern. (Don't worry, I know they aren't everyone's cup of tea, so we'll also be having it manufactured in a solid black as well.)

There are nine different ways you can zip together your Inserts. Here, we have the Basic Insert paired with a Tall Insert.

And in this picture, we have zipped our Thin Insert to the Basic Insert. (This combination boasts FOURTEEN credit card slots.)

We did make a significant design change on the Small Card Caddy. The right-angled corner at the bottom caused the Small Caddy to "ride a little high" in it's Slot Pocket...

So I rounded the corner off. Not only does it fit into the Slot Pocket much better now, but it also has a much more pleasing look now as well.

So there you have it..... 


In our next post I'll have more info about this yummy fabric line by Jane Sassaman.  :) 
But in the mean time....

I'd LOVE to know if you have any thoughts or suggestions?

Please feel free to share them below!

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