If you haven't already figured it out, I love Heidi and Finn patterns. Whenever she puts a call out for a new pattern to be tested I jump on it because they are always great and need very few modifications. Each pattern can be made by someone new to sewing yet have a professional finish to them.
This is her first bag pattern but she's been sewing it for years before now releasing it to the public. The beauty of this simple bag pattern is it comes with a few ways of appliqueing or you can customize it however you want. It also comes with a bonus wallet. The wallet is super cute and an easy sew. Perfect for your younger friends who want to feel like an adult as well.
For testing this pattern Christine, the designer, told us we could applique in anyway we wanted. I don't know if it's these warm temps in Florida, but I have spring and more importantly Easter on the brain. I quickly decided to do bunny bags for the girls to use with their Easter dresses. This was a quick easy sew and based on the girls' initial reaction there is no doubt in my mind that there will be many more of these in our future. The longest part in this process was appliqueing the purse. I used the fruit template that comes with the pattern to balance my face. I folded it in half to find where the nose would go and then half again to make the eyes and length of the whiskers. I used a washable sewing marker to mark this off and then hand stitched with embroidery floss. I made a rough pattern for the ears (yes I did reuse a parent reminder from my daughters school...hehe) to mark off and cut the ears. I then attached them a few inches down from where the flap would be attached to the main portion of the bag and to the sides of the eyes. I made a wool pompom for the nose (there are a million tutorials on pinterest for this) and then followed the rest of the pattern tutorial exactly.
The only other change I made to this tutorial was I couldn't find the slider at my local fabric store to make an adjustable strap so I just made it stationary. I measured the length of the strap on my daughter and then just shortened it to where I thought it should fall and stitched it on. While the adjustable strap would likely last them longer its a quick sew and I can easily whip them up a new one. Let's be honest, white bags are not going to last forever!
The Finchley bag is set to release in the next few days. You can find this great pattern and all the Heidi & Finn pattern here on etsy.
