The Vintage Purse
I refurbished this 1890-1910ish hinged bag for a friend. It does not look too bad does it?
The major issue on the outside is that the silk faille at the base of the bag was shot.
This is the inside and the mirror and lining silk are also shot.
Deconstruction
There are remains of two pockets one on each side. Time to cut the old fabric off the frame.
I’m leaving the fabric strap as it is in good condition.
The way this frame is made there is lots of room for thicker fabrics which is great.
The tassel is in good condition and so is the cardboard covered oval mount for the tassel.
I carefully removed it so it could be reused.
After the oval was removed the bag looked like this. Good enough to get a pattern off of.
I pulled the mirror backing off the mirror.
This is what it looked like. There was batting under the fabric.
Rebuild
I used the scraps of pieces from the vintage bag to make the pattern for the replacement bag. This is for the velvet outside wall.
This is for the faille outer wall.
This is for the pleated pockets.
This is the lining pattern.
Now that everything is taken apart and I have a pattern I can pick fabrics and cut pattern pieces.
Outer Body
There is a faille ruffle between the velvet and faille so I cut some faille and pressed it in half.
Then gathered it up and sewed one piece to the front velvet and the back velvet piece.
Then sewed the faille piece onto that.
When I had two I could sew them together on the sides from the hinge point down. After the first side I added two rows of gathering stitches along the bottom edge. Then the other side can be sewn from the hinge point down
Lining
I used my pleater to pleat the fabric for the pockets.
This is what it looks like when removed from the pleater.
I cut some 2″ strips
Use a bias maker to turn it into 1″ bias tape.
Sewed a gathering stitch onto both sides.
Pressed up three sides of the pocket pieces then sewed some elastic on to the top edge. I did this for both pocket pieces. I then pressed up the raw edge,
Then sewed the gathered bias to the top edge along both sides.
I pinned on the pocket and pinned a layer of thin cotton fabric behind the silk.
I then top stitched the pockets into place.
With right sides together I sewed the outer edge seam form the hinge point around to the other hinge point.
Viewed from above the sewing machine. I adding a gathering stitch along the upper edge of the linings. The outer, velvet bag and the linings get sewn to each other with right sides together and then turned right sides out.
Then I top stitched the edge. Now the fabric can be sewn back on to the frame.
Mirror
I cut a card stock oval and an oval of batting to match the mirror.
Then cut a larger piece of silk.
Used Becons fabric-tac to glue the fabric to the card stock.
I glued a double fold loop of bias tape at the top of the mirror.
Glued the mirror to the fabric covered board.
Tassel oval
I gathered the bottom of the bag until it fit the shape of the tassel oval. Slipped a matching shaped card stock oval into the bag and glued it to the gathers on the inside of the bag.
I then had to cut a hole in them middle of the oval because there is a knot that holds the tassel to the original fabric covered oval and that knot it thick enough to keep the oval from fitting into place.
Then the oval is tack stitched and glued into place.
Like this.
Lining Trim
I got out my old singer slant needle machine with a tucking foot and experimented making the trim. Because the taffeta is thin I could make narrow bias tape and then use the foot to knife pleat it.
I did end up with two usable pieces.
Once I sewed the outer fabric/lining bag onto the frame then I could tack the trim over that.
The finished bag.
Close-up.