Oh, Stella!

I've been itching to have my own purse pattern since I started MODKID. I am a bag freak – own several dozens of them — but there was just one problem: I'm not a bag maker. I had (note: past tense) never made a purse, mostly because my mom always made them for me, so why bother, right? So, naturally, I turned to the expert for this one. Many of you have purchased Marieliz Creations purse designs on Etsy and have been clamoring for a pattern from her. Well here it is!



My mom and I stayed up late one night chatting on the phone about purse designs ideas. And if you know me, you know I was talking a million miles an hour and jumping from one thing to the other. Our conversation went something like this:

ME: I want it to be a structured bag... ya know... the kind that stand on their own... not slouchy.
MOM: OK.
ME: And... I want it to have a cell phone pocket... on the outside... so I don't have to dig in my purse to find the phone every time it rings.
MOM: Uh-huh
ME: Oh, but I also want it to have some pockets on the inside... at least 2... so I can put my car keys and my chapstick and other things in them...
MOM: Yup.
ME: I also want it to have only 1 handle because when I wear purses with 2 handles, one of them always falls of the shoulder and it is so annoying...
MOM: OK, listen, sounds like you really know what you want, so why don't you just send me a drawing and some dimensions and I'll go from there...

So, I did. I sent her this...



And then I thought we should offer some more options so I also sent her this...



Mom went to work on this idea. There was silence for about a week and then she resurfaced with an awesome pattern that just made me tear up in excitement. AND... this sewn sample:



I couldn't believe how my drawing had come to life, not one detail overlooked! The handle, the pockets, the shape, the size... all was there, just right! I digitized all of her drawings in Illustrator and typeset her instructions in inDesign and then the inevitable... I was gonna have to sew up my very first purse. SCARY! I needed to (whether I wanted to or not) because I had to make the step-by-step mechanical drawings and how could I draw them if I didn't even know how the darn thing went together? So I did.

I made my very first purse (so friggin' proud!):



And the other side showing the patchwork design:



Then the true test came... my pattern testers. I sent the test pattern to Valerie Haberer, and she sent me this beauty back:



Then I sent it to Amy Priddy and I got this gorgeousness back:



What more could I ask for? Sooooo gorgeous! And just how I envisioned it, down to the very last detail! I went to work on finishing up the pattern edits based on my testers' awesome feedback, played around with a few cover shot options...



... and VOILA! May I present to you STELLA: Modern Handbag sewing pattern.



This, and all of our new patterns, are currently up for pre-order on the wholesale portion of our website only (new patterns are only viewable after you log in). Retailers, log in using your email and password to place your order. New patterns will be in stock the first week of May. Consumers, please check with your favorite retailer and see if they've ordered the new MODKID patterns. See the bottom of this page for a list of retailers that currently stock MODKID patterns.

Next up... Mini-Nina! :)

**UPDATE** Forgot to show a top view of the bags. They close up with a zipper. :) Thanks to Rebecca for reminding me in the comments section.