Evening Purses

Photo by Leon Cooper

Back in April, I blogged about Tote Bags & Purses. A couple of years ago, I made a couple of evening purses for a wearable art exhibit. I designed several types. The base fabrics are all made with lots of decorative yarns, threads and glitzy fabrics. The five shown here have shoulder straps that are tucked inside the bag. They all have magnetic snap closures. All the purses have detachable art pins so that you can wear them on a jacket or sweater (if you so desire). I thought that the wearable art pin was a unique addition. After the show, I decided to make more of these for the Fine Art & Craft Fair here in St. John's. Some of these evening purses were also on exhibit in Korea last fall.
The black and red shoulder purse has a fold over flap with a magnetic snap. I made a series of different fold over flaps. Most of the shoulder straps are hand made as well. This particular purse is one that I kept for myself as it matches several of my outfits.

Now for the free patterns (not mine)! I came across a textile site by Linda Matthews with lots of free purse, tote & handbag patterns and tutorials. It's worth a look.