Beast Bonnie Bucket Bag

When I had a request for 'a purse with the Beast' from Beauty and the Beast, my mind went a mile a minute thinking of various fabric options.  Unfortunately there are no fabrics in my stash with ONLY the beast, or even with him as a focus, so I went for the next option - embroidery!  There are some amazing designs out there, some are just sketches, appliques, or even elaborate scenes.  Finally I ran across this awesome design from French Frills Embroidery and decided to go with it!

Bonnie Bucket bag by Swoon

It really needed a good statement purse pattern, and the Bonnie Bucket Bag by Swoon (affiliated link) is awesome for displaying the peekers.  I used the 5"x7" sized pattern, and tried to estimate where I wanted it to end up.  Next time I might move it slightly lower, so it's resting on the vinyl bottom, but I would need to be very exact in my measurements.  I have some super cute peeker pairs that I could do one on either panel...or one on the front and one on the back for whatever mood you are in!

Trying to get the beast centered was a challenge with the paper pattern piece. Next time, plastic template!

This is only the second time I've done the Bonnie, so I'm still working on the perfect combo of pockets and features.  This one has a slip pocket on the outside back that could have a zipper, but it seems to be pretty secure without it.  Inside is another slip pocket in the same style that is recessed into the lining, plus more slip pockets on the other side.

Interior slip pockets puffed out to see them a little better - didn't really help...

The outside vinyl overlay wasn't too hard to do.  First I drew a line on the back at 1", then folded over my top edge and glued it in place with Fabri-Tac.  I used my quilting ruler and some wonder clips to hold it together and even while I was gluing, then piled some books on top to get it to flatten out.  The glitter vinyl likes to grab onto my sewing machine, even using the Teflon foot, so I had to go super slow to get it to stitch mostly evenly.

My camera only wanted to either get the black pattern or the red, never both in focus at the same time

I had some of this awesome licensed fabric with the rose under glass in my stash, waiting for the right purse.  I should have gotten more, it's a subtle tone on tone print, but a bright red that really pops with the black.  The other fabrics were from Joann's, and that black is becoming my favorite for a subtle background print!

It's more of a true red - the hardest color to photograph and capture the details

The bag is normally really slouchy, so to give it some nice structure I used flex foam along with the Shape Flex 101 it calls for.  The foam I added in after sewing the front and back outside pieces, and I just put them on top of the foam, traced, and basted them in place.  The bottom I used my favorite curved seam trick, stapling all the layers together before sewing, then removing the staples and using my pinking shears to trim the seam allowance.   

Modified the top zipper with some hand sewing because it was just a bit wavy

I also added in a cross body strap to make the purse wearable either on the shoulder or across the body.  It's a tall purse, and very roomy, but I think it can still work as a cross body!  Maybe now I should finally finish the Alice in Wonderland Bonnie I've had in my UFO pile forever!