The Lettie Mini Bowler Bag - Surprisingly Spacious in a Small Classic Design

Lisa Stewart accent strip adjustable strap bowler bag child's bag classic style classic styling classy

Patricia set out to join the "small bag" trend, but still wanted a spacious interior. After a couple (or three or more) prototypes, she achieved classic styling, a roomy interior, and efficient construction. 



The testers always let us know if there are any construction issues, and we're happy to say that Patricia's extra efforts paid off.

Let's take a look at their makes and details:

Ulrike Puckering of The Busy Sewing Room never disappoints with her fabric choices. Her comments: "I've used cotton sateen for the outer, interfaced with woven, Decovil light, and a layer of acrylic craft felt. (I use craft felt a lot as it gives a little padding and more structure than fleece. It's about 2mm thick and fairly cheap to get here).

Faux leather only on the bottom - I did intend to use it for the connectors and handles as well, but it was too soft and my machine just didn't like it at all.

The lining is a thick cotton, also interfaced with woven. The handle hardware is from Serial Bagmakers. I didn't have gold bag feet so used one half of press studs instead. Chicago screws for the handles - they've been in my stash for years, no idea where they were from.
Sewn as usual on my Singer 201K."








I think that Becca Olson has tested all of Patricia's patterns! She did a little bit of "upcycling" on her bag. For the exterior she used vinyl from Bo Dee Oh along with extra fabric cut from a too-long Lily Pulitzer dress. (She said, "The main reason I love being short is I always have matching bags for my dresses. Lol!) The interior is also extra of that fabric. 

The hardware is all from Amazon. Becca says she is already picking out for her next bag and that The Lettie is absolutely the perfect size!






We happily added longtime KPD customer and bagmaker extraordinaire Cheryl Shook to our testing team. She made 3 bags!

Bag #1 is is my "casual" Lettie. WPC, quilted with foam for stability, was used for the exterior along with black glittery vinyl from my Punkbroidery, for the center piece and upholstery vinyl for bottom and accents. I also used the upholstery vinyl for binding. WRC from Your Vinyl Source was used for the lining. 



Bag #2: What a difference using different materials can make! This Lettie was made with leather. The snake print leather is from Tandy and the black leather for accents, bottom and straps are from a local shop. The snake print is thin but kind of firm(ish) so it held it's shape well. Even so, I still used Decovil light, out of the seams. The WRC is from Your Vinyl Source. I added some 5.5m paracord to the faux rolled handles to beef them up just a bit. I like the results. I chose to opt out of adding the chain, maybe I will later. I kind of liked it without it. OK, funny part...is it just me or does anyone else see a little animal? 


Personally, I think it looks surprised - oooooh!



Bag #3 Lettie will be going to my granddaughter for Easter. I used Whipped Avocado Metallic and Milk Metallic vinyls from My Punkbroidery. Rainbow hardware is from Wawak and the cotton interior is from my mom's vintage stash (I raided it when I visited her). What a cute, cute bag!! 







Keleesha Marley's fun Lettie bag will certainly attract a lot of attention. Her comments: "I used a #3 zipper for the inside pocket and it was perfect.  The exterior vinyl is the Sandstone collection from Indo Love Kreation, the interior is More Me Know water resistant canvas, the zipper resource is unknown, and the hardware is from my stash. This pattern is so cute and dope!"







Long time tester Kellie Toles of Sewful Creations wowed us with her fabric choices. She said, "Here are the pics of my Lettie! I just love how it turned out and the size is so adorable! My daughter and her friend are fighting over who gets her. Lol!

I used croc vinyl from Big Z Fabric and it's lined with WPC from Fabric Wholesale Direct. Both chains are from Amazon and all other hardware and zipper tape is from Wawak."



 

 


As always, a big heartfelt Thank You! to our testers. 
Are you inspired and ready to make your own Lettie Mini Bowler Bag? 



 

Whether you're a beginner or an experienced bag maker, we'd love to have you join our Facebook Pattern Group. Ask questions, give guidance and encouragement, and be sure to share your makes.

Not a Facebook user? Send us pictures of your makes and the stories behind them. We'll share them in our weekly newsletter. Send to info@kayapapayadesign.com



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