Thread: slightly ot need advice from seamstresses

thought I'd share a cool link ..lots of patterns for purses here

Free Craft Ideas for Handbag Patterns

I need advice on how to construct a purse from silk and other materials..I do not plan to do any of the sewing, just paint and dye the silk and then send the materials to someone else and pay someone who knows what they are doing and enjoys doing it..

What I'll be doing is using a small silk stretcher to hand paint and batik some simple designs..the silk will be a heavy habotai like 14mm or maybe even something fancier like charmeuse..but anyways it will be thicker than veil silk (if it works the way I want it to)

The designs will be painted on small squares of silk, both 4 by 6 inch squares and larger ones like 12 by 12 inches. I'd like to use the painted squares on the purse/bags somehow ..i can also dye up extra silk so that more silk can be used for the bag

Am thinking silk alone is not the best material for a bag so it would have to be lined or quilted or both..and handles , buttons, zippers etc added. The silk squares that I paint can be sewn on to larger pieces or a different purse material..not exactly like patchwork but I would not rule out that idea if it looked nice and not too hippie-ish

So I need advice (in real simple idiot does not sew at all terms) on how to use a silk square and somehow incorporate it into the overall purse design..whether its hand sewn on one of the front flaps or sides, etc. I do not have a set pattern in mind yet but the bag should be large enough to carry a few items if wanted but not so big it's considered a tote

hope i make sense..sleep deprived again
thx in advance

ps if you were a seamstress doing this kind of work what would you charge to do batch projects..say 20 at a time if i sent the silk squares and paid for materials?

if anyone has a burning desire to do this email me at akaisilksinfo@yahoo.com
I do not have anything ready to go yet, its just in planning stages..

I like this one but it does not need to be fancy..the art work would be the focal point
Quilted Aqua and Black Purse

ps again if there is a way to do this using light silk let me know ? as lighter silk is obviously less expensive so would cut the cost of the materials needed

If you want to use a lighter silk you can construct the bag out of a stronger fabric and cover it with the silk patchwork. I would advise doing that anyway as small squares sewn together won't be very strong.

Or after painting the silk you could iron on fusible re-enforcing fabric like vilene to strengthen it. I did this with a lovely silk cushion I had that fell apart at the seams and it worked very well.

thank you guys

any tips on what to pay someone to sew it?