The Massey Purse

I can share this now that the purse has been received. This is one of the custom items that I work on in the background. Contact me if you’d like to commission a custom item of your own.

Right after quarantine hit in our neck of the woods, and the businesses around us closed down, a neighbor came to me for help. He had been planning on surprising his wife with a new leather purse for her birthday. Unfortunately his plans were scuttled as a result of covid-19. So he asked if I could make her a custom bag. My answer was "It would be my pleasure!". Every detail was picked out by the husband with some suggestions by me.

The husband choose the Sweet Pea Saddle Bag by Blue Calla for the base pattern. We went on to significantly customize it. The husband wanted a leather purse so we choose plum and grey Italian leather for the exterior.

The interior fabric was changed a couple of times but ended up being a gorgeous dark gray with a floral feel.

Then it was time to customize!!

We added an embroidered floral hawk to the outside of the flap. The design has both a nature feel and a bird feel without being overwhelming. The colors really pop against the grey leather, while coordinating with the plum leather.

The wife's initials were embroidered on the inside of the flap so you can see them when the purse is opened. This was done in a thread color that coordinates with the plum leather.  

A custom tassel was made for the flap. And I added a line of decorative stitching along the bottom of the purse.

Extra pockets were added to the interior, both slip pockets and an additional zipper pocket, because you can never have too many pockets. A key leash was also added to the interior.

For an extra custom touch, I added a leather patch to the interior, letting the wife know that the bag had been made especially for her.

 I created hidden strap connectors with rivets for extra strength.

The husband choose an adjustable crossbody strap since he wanted the purse to be grab and go for his wife, especially since she has 2 young kiddos to keep up with. Here's a close up of the custom detail on the crossbody strap. 

And here's the final purse with all the custom touches.

While we were designing the purse, the husband mentioned that his wife had had a cloth lanyard that she used for her keys. She used the lanyard for years and it was starting to show some wear. So we created a matching lanyard to go with the purse.

To make this present extra special, I added a custom purse bag for storage and a storage box.

So when the wife opened her present, she saw:

Here’s all the final parts of the present, all together.

I’m really happy with how the purse and lanyard turned out. The husband was great to work with and it was fun getting to help him design the exactly perfect gift for his wife. I got to be there when the husband presented the wife with her gift. It was so much fun to see her surprise. She did not expect it at all. And she loved her new purse which makes me happy.