The Born Of “The Dazzles” Vintage Frame Clutch Bag

May be you were wondering why I just showed you only detailed depictions of “The Dazzle” in my previous post and did not write down the process…. Not my style huh~ you are right…. and I am doing it here!!!!

About a month ago, I was having a chat with Sumay, my dear friend, via facebook. She was telling me that she is going to help raise funds for a charity with a party. She was extremely excited about it and told me it is for Rumah Nur Salam which shelters street and stateless children in Kuala Lumpur. She asked me if I wanted to contribute my craft as one of the auction items in this event… “Yes, why not!!!” I replied immediately, it would be so meaningful to contribute my handmade craft for such a good cause.  So, we discussed over the net, brain storming which type of craft should I do, what kind of design and how to make it worth the value in the auction etc…. Since my expertise is in handbag or purse-making, especially ball clasp closure frames clutch, we decided to go with it. This brain storming session for the handbag design took a few days and not only involving Sumay and I, my sister who is also gifted in hand crafts contributed some of her brain juices too….. If you know me long enough, you will know that I am a perfectionist. I have to make sure that all my handmades are perfectly handicrafted, is a one-of-a-kind, limited edition, master-piece, and most importantly, if possible, who ever owns it will be so proud of it…..

I was under great stress for a week during the early stage of the brain storming because I couldn’t find  one design which I was perfectly satisfied with. I almost brokedown into tears as I seemed to have lost my direction and inspirations. I took a car-ride that day just to grab some fresh air and to clear my mind. I stopped in front of a shopping mall, suddenly the inspiration struck me when I saw a girl wearing a nice skirt and walked pass my car. The way she walks is so nice, elegant and simply…. CLASSY…., would it be good if I can make a handbag that resembles this style???? I quickly drove back with the new design in my head as I had no pen and paper in my car to sketch it down immediately. Phew, luckily I didn’t lose my train of thought while travelling back home which took about 45 minutes!!! Needless to say, once I reached home, the first thing i did was to dive into my craft room, sketch it down and begin the creation of “The Dazzle”. I chose my most favourite fabric which is no longer available from the shop and decided to use it.

On the same day I designed and drew out the handbag’s paper pattern. Next step is to get it decorated and sewn-up. Sound easy, right…. not at all, coming up with a good paper pattern is not as easy as I wrote over here, gasp!!!!

I want my handbag to get a little glimmer so I put some iron-on rhinestones on it. I like the glittery look on the handbag but I am very careful that I don’t dominate the handbag design by overdoing it.

Next,  I sewed some beads and sequins onto the flower prints. Only some of the flowers, not all, again I don’t want to overdo it and make it too sparkly!!!!!

I added leather and some metal buttons to create a bit of edginess to the soft design of  the beads and flowers. The photo shown below is the front and back of the handbag that hadn’t seamed up yet. I purposely took this photo to let you compare the effect of with and without the metal buttons on the leather I had both sides embellished to make them look identical….

A close-up look on the metal buttons…. they are not only used on bags but also on jeans, jackets and boots too. Look at the hand-sewn stitches of the leather… I used a 4-hole diamond tip awl (leather puncher) which I specially imported from Japan, hammered it on the leather to create a line of equally spaced guide holes, and sewed them with special leather needle and thread.  After having all the necessary embellishment done, sewed the side and bottom up, set it aside and move on to the the internal lining of the bag.

I didn’t capture photos on the process of the interlining as I was running out of time (and daylight too, was doing it in the middle of the night) and rushing to finish it.  Anyway, I used gold satin fabric to make the lining and added a zip pocket and 2 slips pockets in it.

As usual, I hand-embroidered my own label ” Craft Passion” and sewed it on the top of the zip pocket

Sewed them up and attached the sewable  ball clasp closure frame, fitted the chain straps, I thought I was done with the handbag!!!! But….. yes, I feel something is missing here…. I still feel that the handbag is too “empty”, I need something to boost it’s image!!!! So…..

I designed and crocheted a 5 petals flower to match with the flower print on the fabric as an add-on. Put 2 types of fastener at the back -  a brooch pin and a rubber band to make it into a brooch and/or hair band. It is flexible, you can use it as an embellishment on “The Dazzle”, pin it on your outfit  or tie it on your hair….

Consider all done and get ready to send it to the fundraising event organiser to get it auctioned???? No, not yet, not up to my standard without a proper packing!!!!

Below are some of the gift tags I made, chose one and tied it on.

Then, I sewed a semi-transparent red dust bag to store “The Dazzle” in and  beaded “Craft Passion” as the label!!!

ALL DONE!!! This time is for real!!! I packed them into the box, gasp, inhaled strongly just before closing the box, but I stopped. I took out “The Dazzle”, held it and looked at it until I am satisfied, put it into the box, sighed a while, took it out again, looked again, held it again, put it back again, repeated over and over again…. I told myself, since it is out for a good cause, I have to let go. I quickly sealed the box and couriered it to Sumay the next morning before I changed my mind.

That is the story from 2-3 weeks ago!!! Now, it is time to gear myself up for the fundraising party. Yup, I am going to the party and I want to witness how the auction goes with my heart and soul handmade – “The Dazzle”.  I want to see who is the lucky bidder to win “The Dazzle” and I want to take a photo with him/her.

Till the next time, watch-out my next post for the report!!!!

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