Pretty Pleated Purse

Recently, Jenn from Tenth Muse Studios was giving away the pattern of her Pretty Pleated Purse to some of her readers. I was one of the lucky ones to receive one.

And let me tell you: I love the design of this purse. It's not too big, not too small and looks cute yet sophisticated.

As the name indicates the outside of the purse is pleated, it has a rectangular bottom, is fully lined with inside pockets and has two handles. The hardest part for me was adding the bottom to the outside purse and the lining. Main reason is, that I simply stink at mitering corners. Probably, the biggest reason why I don't do quilts...

I used a medium weight printed linen I bought at fabric.com awhile back for the outside and regular quilting cotton for the lining. The main fabric I used is quite stiff. That's probably the reason why you can't really make out the pleats in the pictures. But, I think, once the bag is filled up the pleats will be more visible.

To better fit my needs I made a couple minor modifications to the pattern: I only added pockets to one side of the lining (pattern asks for two), added a magnetic snap to the top band (you can't tell from the pic since it's black on black) and widened the straps a little bit (finished width about 1.25 in vs. pattern 0.75 in).

Here is Yanic, being sick and annoyed with me posing with the bag (Blue couldn't help but stick her butt into the pic as well...).

Thanks Jenn, for letting me test your pattern.

Katha, let me know if you like it. If Yes, this will be your Birthday present.