Got Pockets? Purse Sewing Pattern

I love the concept of this purse. Now I am not a novice sewer, I have been sewing for over 50 years. I purchased this pattern many years ago and made quite a few purses for friends and family. Of course, the first time I read the instructions my first thought was "WHAT?!" I found the instructions vs illustrations to be very confusing. Now, I haven't made this purse in a few years but had a request from a neighbor asking if I could make her one. I went out and purchased all the material to make her the purse then sat down to begin sewing it together after I had all my pieces cut out. I forgot so much over the years and found myself getting frustrated all over again when attaching the binding around the inside pockets. Just like I did when I first made this purse it took me so long and so many re-starts to figure out how to bind around the pockets. I had to stop sewing and review video after video to refresh my memory about attaching binding. Unfortunately, all I found was attaching binding to quilts which were added to the edges of the quilts not in the middle, which is what we need to do for the purse. If the creator of this pattern could create a little how-to video on making this purse, I feel this would be a tremendous help to all levels who sew, especially those just learning to sew. Just a thought.

So disappointed, I was so excited to make this, I'm not a beginner sewer, just putting it out there. The instructions were horrible. I did figure out the outside body but the inside pocket, lets just sayI didnt finish the bag.

This pattern is not for the faint of heart. I'm giving it 4 stars, but I think it could be a 5-star project if certain things are changed to make it easier if you know ahead of time how to adjust for them. (Refer to my suggestions later in the review.) While most of the instructions are pretty good, I found a couple to be lacking. I think if those couple of instructions had been written better and with better illustrations, I would not have gotten frustrated at those junctures. At step 4B, it took me an hour (with help from my sister) to figure out how to fashion the bottom of the bag. It was neither described nor illustrated well. It turned out to be much easier than it looked like it was going to be, but the instruction just wasn't clear. There is one instruction (7E) regarding binding the zipper pocket that is wrong (indicating to start the binding on the left side of an assembly piece when the following instructions and accompanying picture clearly showed you had to start on the right). But I worked my way through it and came out with a decent product. I have three suggestions for this project. 1) The project is designed so that there is a seam on one side of the tote but not the other. I didn't like that lack of symmetry so I compensated and sewed two pieces of fabric together to create a piece of fabric the same size as intended in the original pattern but with a seam on both sides. This applies to both the outside of the bag and the lining. 2) This must be a relatively "old" pattern because the cell phone pocket as designed can only accommodate an old flip phone. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that until it was too late for my project and didn't want to rip out what I had already completed. It is possible to adjust the pattern for a modern slim, flat phone if you know ahead of time to do that. The project would be even easier then because the pleating of that pocket would not be necessary. 3) The two interior pocket assemblies did not leave enough room on the sides of the pleats to be wide enough to accommodate the binding that is necessary to complete them, so the binding on my pocket assemblies looks pretty bad if you were to really look at the interior of the bag. My suggestion is to forgo the pleating on both the cell phone pocket and the pen pocket and the binding would not then be an issue. If you want a pleated pen pocket, then adjust the pattern to make the sides of it wider to accommodate the binding.