Customer Reviews

Handmade Bags

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Handmade Bags" has some really great project ideas. It starts out with the basics - supplies, sewing for beginners, etc. and then moves on to the projects (which have whimsical names like "Red, red rose" and "Gilded cage"). There are 30 professional looking project ideas - all with great illustrations and detailed instructions. Some of the projects use some interesting materials, however I was disappointed that there were a couple of "knitting with wire" bags - that's just not my thing.
Although most of the patterns seem pretty straight forward, they are small grid illustrations - meaning you can't take the book to the copy machine and enlarge - you have to use traditional tailoring methods/measuring/etc. to scale up the pattern. For people who have never sewn, I would advise getting "Making Handbags" by the folks from FIT first and then use this book for additional creative ideas and techniques.

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.

I was looking for a starting point for making bags...this is not it. They have a few cool bags, but I was looking for something a little more "practical" and frankly, a little more "cool". You know? Buy this book if you want a coffee table book, but don't buy it for anything else...

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".

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.

You can tell a woman by her handbag: if you are all about building a professional persona, these handbags will break your look. To me, these handbags look haute-crafty rather than haute couture, and some of these handbags resemble Easter baskets.

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