The Buttons and Bows Pattern was a little hard to understand at first, because the first instruction is to install a zipper, which is never easy, but after reading, and re-reading the pattern, it gives a different way to install zippers than I am customarily use to. The new method I've learned from this pattern I would say is easier to accomplish and gives a cleaner, straighter finish. Once I was able to sit down and study the instructions, the purse was easy to finish.
A couple changes I started off with on this purse
I removed two of the three zippers because not everyone is going to want to install all those zippers, so I managed a few different ways to close up or over lap the other zipper areas. The pockets sewn into the inside are very customizable for any size pockets you may need.
I also wanted the purse to only have 3 colors afiliated with it, based off of the blue & brown piece that is the outside of the purse. The lighter brown was found for the areas that would be exposed to dirt so it was placed on the bottom and the hand straps. The lighter blue was found to make the interior easier to find keys and things, because I'm told the bottom of purses can be a very dark place indeed.
Things I don't like about the patternAgain, the beginning of the pattern was the hardest thing to get into, it was just a hard read. Other than that it was a fairly simple straight forward pattern once you got past how to make the zippers.
Making Up
My first cautionary tale is to look out at the very end of the pattern when you are sewing the front side to the back side, make sure your bottom/side seams match up to give it a nice professional look to it. I thought I pinned it correctly and because of the push and pull of the layers it didn't end up the way I wanted it. It's not truly that off, but I noticed it and I have high standards for my projects.
Machine Used: Janome DC1050
We just got this machine in, so to check it in I decided to do this project on it to test all of it's components and features. It worked great. The only complaint I have, because I'm not use to this machine, is because it has an automatic needle up or down feature, I had to plan to stop sewing in a different way than what I'm use to on my mechanical machine. Not necessarily a bad thing, I'm sure I'd get use to it pretty quick using it as much as my mechanical bottom of the line, I do like the fact that a machine will stay needle down when I take my foot of the foot control, because alot of times I need the needle to stay in so when I pull on things it won't come out or move or skip stitches. I do like this machine and with around 50 stitches. It would be a nice decorators machine with it's heavier motor and stitch designs.
