Buttercup Bag

When I saw the cute and free buttercup bag pattern I couldn’t wait to make one! I had just enough fabric left over from Sophie’s Garden Party Dress and knew it would look great on this little bag!

I started sewing it on a rainy afternoon when we were all stuck in the house. But I made the mistake of telling Sophie I was sewing her a purse, and she proceeded to ask me if it was done about 20 times over the next 30 minutes. At least she was excited about it!

I actually let her help me with a few things like handing me pins and punching some buttons on the sewing machine. I’m glad she’s showing an interest in sewing, and I can’t wait to teach her when she’s just a bit older.

Now that the bag’s finished she’s using it to carry around all her valuables. She says it’s going to school on Friday for show and tell.

My favorite part of the buttercup bag is the 5 little pleats, which are on both sides of the bag.

I made a couple of changes to the pattern. I added fusible fleece to the outer bag and handle to make it thicker. The pattern doesn’t call for that but it really helps give the purse some body.

I also changed how the strap is attached. The pattern instructs to sew the whole bag together and then sew the strap on but I wanted the strap to be connected from the inside so stitch lines wouldn’t be visible. So on step 14 of the pattern I sandwiched the handle between the lining and the purse, matched the ends of the straps up to the side seams of the lining and purse, and sewed all three pieces together around the top. When you turn the purse right sides out, the straps will be sewn on from the inside with no stitch lines visible!