Designer Inspired Handbags

Reviews

This handbag was initially purchased to use at a wedding. The color and design matched my outfit nicely and was the size I was looking for. However, I dropped it onto the pavement and a couple of the beaded strings broke. In the future it could used as a clutch, but that is not practical for someone who walks with a cane.

Reviews

Nice tote. A bit smaller than I had anticipated, but it gets the job done. Color bleeds a LOT when washing and noticably fades.

Reviews

I am very happy with the quality of the handbag and the service of the company. It arrived quickly and in good condition. There was a question about the incorrect supplementary chain handle (gold instead of silver), but a quick email to the company got a quick reply and the offer to take care of the problem.

Reviews

I am absolutely impressed with the vast knowledge and experience this book offers. Not only does it give you beautiful patterns to try it also teaches you how to make alterations to suit your individual style and size. Invaluable advice. The section on repurposing pants was great. For the beginning sewer this book will push your comfort level (It will make you better). For the experienced sewer it will tickle your fancy. Overall enjoyed.

This book is great for inspiration & had some good tips, but at the same time it wasn't what I thought it would be. The fashions are... definitely not from the U.S. or just outdated. The best new information, to me, was on how to work with vinyl or rubber & how to use grommets.

This book is totally different from most sewing books from the US. If you like craft books or skirt making books from Japan, then you will like this one, too. The book introduces multiple designers that lead the fashion industry of Korea. They are not in kawaii flavor though. I am used to this type of overwrapped pattern and it does not bother me at all, hence the skirt pattern--it is better to have a pattern in various size and I don't know why they didn't, but instead, there is an instruction of size alternation. I am going to try and make skirts for my super slim size 0 daugther using this method. The bags are simple and cute, some are too plain but with your creativity, you could make it OOAK indie style. I love the bag on the cover and I bought this book just for this, and I see other projects pretty atractive and interesting. That was a bonus. I recommend this book if you like challenging, enjoy DIY, and think that just following an instruction to make exactly the same stuff as 3,000 other readers is boring. There are so much flavor that you can add to the basic ideas you'll see in this book.

I am an experienced sewer...I sew everyday...I have made tailored garments and lingerie...I quilt...I do embroidery by hand and machine...and I REALLY like this book. I would say it accomplishes what it sets out to do: provide creative and fun projects that will result in unique bags and skirts. In response to previous reviews: The full sized patterns that come with the book are meant to be traced. We in the U.S. are not used to this, but it very is common in European patterns such as Burda magazine. Instructions are clear and concise and do not leave you guessing, but part of the fun is not being dependent on pre-printed patterns that give cookie-cutter results. The strength of the book is its creative, edgy designs. The basic skirt patterns provided are in size x-small (the book is Korean) and instructions are given to enlarge as needed, but really, any 99-cent skirt patterns would suffice. The book is about embellishment and customizing the look of the basic silhouettes. Of the 40+ projects, only 2 involve remaking pants into skirts, and they are from the chapter called "Reform and Remake." This re-purposing of unwanted garments is all the rage among "green" sewers....see the popular Threadbanger website. But there are also dainty, sophisticated, and everyday-casual skirts featured in the book's other chapters. This NOT a "take junk and make other junk" kind of book!! I think the book's projects will appeal to a wide range of ages and tastes. My college age daughters love the book. I plan on making 2 skirts and 3 bags for myself (and my taste in clothes is hardly avant-garde.) And my mother-in-law has requested the reversible tote for her upcoming 78th birthday!

I was really excited to make some of the skirts. Went out and bought fabric and was ready to get started when I saw it, buried on page 10 or so: ALL SKIRT PATTERNS ARE A STANDARD SIZE 4!!! I haven't worn a 4 since I was 14. What a waste. I guess there is still potential for the bags.

Reviews

Made this bag at Sewing Classes and wanted to make more of the one on the front cover and others. A real find!

This is the first how make a handbag book that I purchased. I based the buy on sight unseen and on the good reviews on Amazon. Well, the reviews at the lowerer end are much more accurate. I call this book boring and mostly useless. The designs are not contemporary and the bags all look homemade. Sorry, but for the price of this book, I suggest buying a better resource book that has some substance to it. Anyonw know such a handbag book? I am looking for the best one.

I recently saw a lady carrying the most amazing tote bag I've ever seen in my life. I have an eye for crafts, and I immediately suspected that this bag was a one-of-a-kind purchased in a boutique for crazy money, was made by the wearer who must be the most talented artist in the world, or she had hit it very lucky at the garage sale of a millionaire with fabulous taste and money to burn. Since I couldn't help but stop and ask her, I found out that none of my assumptions were actually true. The lady had purchased this very book, followed directions and added on some interesting twists and turns of her own, using some upholstery fabric suggesting museum-quality (to my eye) and lined it with satin. That lady's tote bag was utterly drop-dead amazing. I tracked down this book on Amazon and will soon begin the museum-quality tote bag of my own dreams. Heavenly Handmade Bags: Over 25 Designs to Stitch, Knit, Embroider & Embellish by Sue Hawkins is the key to become that woman with the purse that everyone admires!

too over the top crafty cutesy for my taste. If you like that kind of look - you'll enjoy it, otherwise - try something plainer

A great book to fire the imagination. Lots of ideas and colorful illustrations. A very good guide for getting started.

Reviews

A fabulously simple and easy to follow guide to inspire you to create your own one off masterpieces.Highly Recommended

Most of the purses in this book were so foolish looking I wouldn't use them if someone gave them to me, much less waste my time to make them. I was looking for bags to make and sell but I have found better ideas for free on the internet. To this books credit, it does give good instruction on construction basics such as pockets and linings.

Handmade Bags is full of unique and gorgeous bags to make from a variety of materials, with detailed step-by-step instructions, tons of photos, and an introduction to basic sewing at the beginning. This would be a fantastic book, BUT and this is a big BUT-there are no patterns. For the purses made out of alternative materials or knitted, this is not an issue, as the instructions and photos clearly show how to make the purse. For the sewn purses there is a small photo of a grid with a pattern outline shown and each grid square equals 2". The book has a section on how to make and use patterns, but for less experienced sewers this can be daunting. For purses in a basic square or rectangle shape making a pattern would be easy, but several of these bags have unique shapes so creating a pattern for them would be more difficult. Although it states how much fabric is needed for each purse, it doesn't give cut dimensions. Making the purses without patterns would be ok if the directions stated "cut the shape with a 16" base ending with a 20" fan shaped top." Handmade Bags sends a mixed-message. It is written in a basic, mostly easy to use format that breaks the process down, so even a novice sewer could make make one of these bags, but the lack of patterns or cutting dimensions pushes it into the realm of experienced sewers. This makes the book frustrating for folks like me with basic sewing skills, but no experience or time to learn to make patterns.

This book is really well presented with amazing pictures and is easy to read. If you have any knowledge of sewing and any interest in making handbags that appear professional this is not the book for you, I think it should be reclassified as a craft book for kids. If you're an adult save your money.

There are a lot of cool ideas in this book, along with 30 bag patterns for you to follow. In addition to traditional fabric handbags, here are several "wire bag" designs in this book.Written by professional accessory designers, this book is full of clever and innovative ideas. However, in spite of the creativity, I did not find many bags I would actually make. However, it is well written with many good sewing tips. It even includes a fully illustrated section on hand-sewing which I found very useful.If nothing else, this is a good "idea book".