Sept. 25, 2025
Project - Handbags
This bag design is taken from a bag I bought in Mexico on the street. Its pretty simple, but I love using the bag for its size and shape. It can fit a lot in, but at the same time it's small and lightweight.
I wanted to replicate the bag and thought I would be a good concept for my future craft shop. So while I was in France, I bought some fabric with bold patterns as a statement piece. I wanted the bag to have a firm shape and be able to stand up on its own. The original bag is made with plastic and feels fairly waterproof and sturdy, but I bought cotton fabric instead.
In order to make it sturdy, I experimented with padding. In classic Charlotte style, I want the padding to be zero waste ideally, so although I bought a few padding materials online, I also experimented with plastic from old milk cartons.
The green bag below is made with proper shop-bought padding. This is the sturdiest one and very rigid in shape. The white/purple bag to the left has no padding, instead just some interfacing (which doesn't really do much). Actually I prefer the white one. In the end, the rigid padding feels unncessary... although my partner favours that one, maybe more to do wtih the more 'manly' colour.
After these bags, I had bought some more fabric to make skirts, but actually I found the fabric was inappropirate for a skirt; too thick and not flowy. So I've converted them into bags instead. The fabric pattern is a bit intense, and I kind of regret the purchase, but am turning it into bags to use to up.
I've settled on no padding for these. Not sure if I'll ever use these... I've kind of gone off the design now, but I think that might be more to do with the fabric choices and colours that the bag design itself. I always seem to fall into the trap of not buying the right fabric for what I'm trying to do. Even when I buy in person, I seem to make the wrong choices, and that really dampens my enthusiasm for the project. So that's something I need to work on - finding a good fabric shop and choosing the right fabrics.
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Charlotte Leysen
Hi there I'm Charlotte from London and I am a Millennial hobbiest. By that I mean I love making things, for both the process and the outcomes. On this blog I talk about all the things I'm working on and learning each week. On some projects I will go into a bit more detail on what I did and my experience through it.
Some facts about me:
- I am not a perfectionist, preferring to complete something than to attempt to make something flawless.
- I am in a constant cycle of building up inspiration, executing the ideas, then winding down to reflect and regenerate.
- I am interested in almost anything that can be made from scratch using nature / natural materials.
