Carry on...

So I finished the handbag, with some extra touches of my own. The pattern is, as I mentioned in the earlier post, the Meadow bag from Melly & Me. The pattern was great and it all came together effortlessly, so I can certainly recommend it.
I had some misgivings about the fabrics I had chosen, but with the added yo-yos on the upper piece, I think I toned the lightness of that fabric down a bit. I first thought that it made the main fabric look too grubby and worn, but with the checkered piece inbetween it seems to work all right.

I wasn't too conscious about it when choosing the fabrics, but they all seem to have sentiments of love, happiness, joy, dreams coming true and celebration - even the lining fabric. So it's all really fitting to the occasion, I think. Because this bag is a gift for my best friend's mother, on her 70th birthday. She is a wonderful person, and has been a regular stand-in for my mom all through my life, so I feel really close to her, and wanted her to have something special that I had made. I also added an inside pocket with two compartments - one for a phone and a magnetic closure. It turned out that I didn't have enough of any of the fabrics for the handles, but I added some of the checkered fabric to the middle of the strips, and I think that gives just the right accent to bring it all together. The bag turned out to be a bit larger than I expected - the shopwhere I bought the pattern had a finished bag hanging on display, but I think they must have made it smaller, because I can't remember that it was this big. That just makes it all the more practical though, it's not just a dainty little thing for your lipstick and phone, but there is room to carry all the stuff you might need on a day out, and even some of your shopping...