One of my favorite things to do when I need some inspiration for a designing a new project is looking through old women’s magazines. I have a stack of Needlecraft magazines from the 1920s and 1930s, as well a bunch of Modern Priscilla magazines from the teens. If you’re interested, old magazines like this are fairly easy to find on eBay. I’ve collected most of mine at vintage markets (I can usually buy them for $2 to $5 each).
Anyway, I’ve been looking for ideas for holiday gift sewing, and I came across this lovely idea for a purse from the October 1912 issue of Modern Priscilla. It’s from a story about embellishing with needlework; I can’t replicate handwork as lovely and intricate as this, but I love the overall structure of this purse: handles that wrap around the whole front of the body and provide a skeleton of support for the purse. I’m hoping to create a pattern for it, and then I’ll post it in the Bonus Projects section.