Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Buying imitation leather handles for crochet bags

I've crocheted many bags for myself and for gifts for the past several years. I never thought of using leather or imitation leather handles for it...but when I found it available on Etsy shops at affordable prices, why not?
It can make a simple handmade purse quite stylish. Or it can make the 24-hr celebrity look-a-like bag look more like the original ;)

Here are my recent purchases:


Imitation leather handles, round toes from 3Dpatternpaper, China, $13.20 (including shipping)


Microfiber leather handles, soft, from pursehandles, Hongkong, $14.00 (including shipping)


PU leather and cotton tapes handles from pursehandles, HK, $8.50 (including shipping)



Imitation leather handles from yeahshop, HK, $13.50 (including shipping)

I bought from different shops so I can compare the quality, the price and the service. I chose Etsy sellers with good feedback and those that are nearer in location. Each shop was good on service, quality and price. For the brown handles (the first and last photo), which look almost the same - I can say that I liked more the one from yeahshop since its a bit softer. I'll be using it for my celebrity bobbles bag...showing in my next post :)



Friday, August 17, 2012

Bobbles bag, 24-hour bag, or Celebrity bag

24-hour bag


A french designer created this bag, made more popular by celebrities (like Angelina Jolie and Cameron Diaz) wearing them. Since the bag is crocheted, it surely got many crocheters interested in trying to make their own version, and some crochet designers even wrote up patterns (for sale) for their look-alike bag.
In our crochet group on Ravelry, we picked this bag for our anniversary Crochet-A-Long (CAL). Thanks to Umme Yusuf for the free pattern, Bobbles Bag, which we used for our CAL.

It was a challenging design, and I wanted to make my own version too... with 3 strands of cotton thread, and 4.5mm hook. The basic stitch was single crochet, and the bobbles were 2dc,3tr clusters. I wasn't satisfied with my bobbles, since it didn't turn out as big as the celebrity bag, but overall it was a very good project and I plan to make it again with improvements.
Can't wait to show my finished bag!...I'm still waiting for the bag handles I bought on Etsy.
Meanwhile, here's a peek ;)

bobbles bag