Evening bag

Tidying up the workroom generally means I "find" all these little tasks that will only take me a minute to fix. One little job was to repair the strap of an evening bag I made back in 2005. It's from black Duchesse satin, and I designed simple red machine embroidery for the flap. The design is loosely based on a Very Useful Bag I have owned for years, but that one is in patent leather. I had to work out how I could make another one with the useful features of that bag.

Generally, I was happy with how it turned out, except that I couldn't get the heavy chain I wanted for the strap. All my clutch bags have straps, because there are always times when you need your hands free (for example, to eat the nice food and hold a glass at the same time!). I optimistically used the chain I did find, and of course, it broke the first time I used the bag.

I don't want the strap to be too bulky, because when I don't need it, it sits in a little pocket inside the bag. I decided to try sewing together two lengths of the lighter chain, to make a flat band. This is the strap being sewn together: The finished strap looks like this on one side: and like this on the other: I like the first side best, with just a hint of the red stitching showing.

Now it just needs me to attach the strap firmly to the bag and I'm done! I wonder how long that process will take?