HANDMADE COUTURE: Make this look too - Orange Bedford Drawstring Bag.

Are you or someone you love a designer handbag enthusiast? Do you sometimes find yourself staring at bags you see in magazines, or even on someone's shoulder in the grocery store wondering how to recreate that bag? Then the Handmade Couture series is for you. We pick a designer bag and tell you how to recreate it using available sewing patterns, materials and hardware.  You can have the same look, but make it totally "you" and for a fraction of the cost. When you sew your own bag you know exactly what is going into the bag and can add or modify features to suit your preferences. Today, we are going to show you how to recreate this Henri Bendel Bedford Drawstring:

The Bedford Drawstring is a quick way to make a bold statement. With the bright red/orange leather and the tassels adding some flair to the otherwise simple and classic bucket style bag. The Bedford measures 11" Tall x 12" Wide x 6" Deep. It has a removeable cross body strap as well as a shorter handle with a 6" drop.  For 398 USD this lovely could be yours. 

Love the look of the Henri Bendel Bedford? Lets be our own brand. 

Pattern + Hardware + Fabric = Handmade Couture

Pattern:

The Blue Calla Dahlia Drawstring Bag is an almost perfect match to our inspiration bag:

The Dahlia measures 10.5" High x 11.5" Wide x 7.5" Deep, which is very similar to our inspiration bag. Unlike the Bedford, the Dahlia has pockets...who doesn't want more pockets?! Depending on your preferences, we will need to do a bit of modification to get an EXACT match to the inpriration bag, but for the most part, it's as simple as leaving out a few features.

Wendy of W.D. Handbags created a jaw dropping version of Dahlia that looks so similar to our inspiration bag and she made it just as the pattern instructs:

If you want to recreate the inspiration bag as closely as possible, all we need to do is leave out the exterior side pockets and accents, change a little bit of the hardware and add a second shorter handle. To do this we will make 2 of the strap connectors instead of the one the pattern calls for.

Hardware:

In order to recreate the Bedford bag we will need most of the hardware that the pattern calls for:

(1) 1.5" Rectangle Slide
(12) Grommets with a 3/8" or 1/2" inside diameter

In addition to this we will need:

(2) 1.5" O rings. We will be using these to attach the strap tab(s) in place of the 1.5" rectangle. Since we will be attaching a detachable cross body strap AND the smaller strap to the same ring, the O rings will work better for this than the rectangle rings.

(2) 1.5" Swivel Hooks to add to the ends of our cross body strap instead of securing it directly to the bag. If you choose to add the second shorter handle, attach that directly to the o rings.

(2) Hanging Tassel Caps. To see how to make tassels using our tassel ends, see the tutorial here. 

Or, if you aren't a fan of the tassels, you can do what Wendy did and add metal zip ends to the ends of your draw string. It still add a touch of class without the tassels:

Fabric: 

If you wanted to really recreate our inspiration bag you can use some pebbled leather, available from Etsy here. 

Or, if leather isn't your thing there are some gorgeous faux leathers that fit the bill nicely, like this one available here. 

Cork is also another great option for this bag. This orange cork is available at Sew Sweetness in the US and MM Cork Supply in Canada.

If you prefer to work with fabric a linen blend would pair beautifully with this style. You can get an essex linen like this one, available here.

You can choose to do this in whatever fabric you are comfortable working with! A fun cotton print, canvas or even denim!  That's the benefit of creating your own, it's what YOU want it to be. Handmade can be couture too!

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Photos and content provided and written for Emmaline Bags by Cyndi Farfsing, from The Nosy Pepper. Cyndi's blog is chock is full of more bag photos and make making tips. Check out her bag series "It's in the Bag! Better Bag Making Series," to learn a ton of new bag making skills.

Share your projects made from Emmaline patterns and/or with Emmaline hardware in our facebook group Emmaline Sewing Patterns Group, or on instagram with the hashtags #emmalinehardware, #emmalinepatterns, #emmalinebags, or tag us @emmalinebags.