If you want to insert piping at the edges of the zipper tape, sew it on now, following the “how to add piping” part of the sewalong. The way that this zipper is inserted, part of the zipper tape is visible, so your piping won’t show up much if it is the same color. If…

Insets There are three options in the pattern for customizing the front of your Presidio Purse – plain (ungathered) inserts, gathered inserts, or leave them off. Either gathered or ungathered insets can be piped and they can be cut from the main or a contrast fabric. If you are using gathered insets, you will start…

Stay Stitching Before doing anything, run a line of stay stitching along the top curved edge of the Front, Back, Front Lining, and Back Lining. Stay stitching is a straight line of stitching that goes just inside of the seam allowance to help prevent curved fabric from stretching as it is manipulated. Use a normal…

There are several different places to mark on this pattern to help you get everything lined up perfectly and several different ways that you can make those marks. In short:– notches on Front/Back, Front/Back Lining, Insets (plain or gathered), Bottom/Sides and Bottom/Sides lining– cut lines on Front/Back (for inset insertion)– handle/anchor placement guides on Bottom/Sides–…

The Presidio Purse comes with two different options for printing – at home or at a copyshop. The copyshop version is 30″ by 36″ (76cm by 91cm) and can be printed at any copyshop that offers large format printing. Ask for architecture or engineering prints for the best price. The home print version prints on…

Hardware The Presidio Purse has two purse handle options – one is all fabric and one has a rectangular ring on each strap. Sourcing these 2″ rectangular rings isn’t easy, unfortunately. Leather supply stores usually have a great selection of hardware for purses, bags and belts. If you don’t have ready access to a leather…

Let’s get this sewalong started! [If, during this post or any other in the sewalong, you have a specific question, just ask! ] The first step is choosing fabric. In this post, I’ll talk through fabric choices for the body, lining, and interfacing.   Body The pattern calls for canvas, upholstery fabrics, denim, corduroy, or…