Sand Dollar Purse

It's time for another leap of faith. I have had a lot of encouragement from friends and family to start making and selling quilts, purses and clothing online. I just set up an Etsy account, and I am about to try to sell my first item (selling under the name SewHoneybee). I still need to set up Pay-pal, so don't go looking for it yet! If you happen to fall in love with this purse, please help me out by buying it through Etsy, so I can start establishing my reputation. Just send me an e-mail, and I will let you know when it is posted for sale.



It was really fun picking the materials for this purse. I tend to shy away from large prints when I work on quilts, because generally seeing only one leaf or half a seashell is no fun. I've had my eye on this aqua sand dollar material for a while, and have been trying to find a project to us it in.
I picked the other three fabrics based on the sand dollar material and the idea of a day at the beach.


I love this tan fabric for several reasons. It reminds me of sand, and has a beautiful depth to the shades of tan. It also has some gold glimmers, which don't seem to photograph very well. I had a little fun with the quilting and included a decorative flower stitch. I like how it adds a bit of interest without being overwhelming.


After the experiment with satin cording on Teresa's purse, I have shied away from using ribbon on the sides of the purse, but I did happen to have a bunch of aqua ribbon that was exactly the right color. I normally use some decorative stitches on the handles and the top edge, but this time I thought it would be a fun change to put the satin ribbon on instead.


One of the reasons I love this purse pattern so much is that it has so many pockets. This purse has 14 pockets inside and 2 pockets outside. The pockets range in size from 1 1/4" wide to 6" wide to fit everything from pens to blackberries and even sunglasses. There are a few pockets that are shorter to help hold lipstick and other items that could get lost in a deep pocket. I added the ribbon trim to the pockets as well as a little decorative touch.


I made a matching key fob when I made my purse, and I always get lots of complements on it. I have decided that I will include a matching key fob with all the purses I sell (free of charge). On this one, I echoed the pattern in the dark brown fabric by using a leaf-shape.


I am having a little bit of an issue on how to price my purses, and if you have any thoughts I would appreciate the feedback. From what I have seen, most seamstresses charge $20-30 per hour of work, plus cost of materials. I have found that my purses take about 4-5 hours to do. I was really hoping that if I pushed myself, I could make it faster, but I have found that with the level of detail I add, such as the decorative stitching, that I am already going as fast as I can while doing a nice job. I refuse to make sloppy looking purses. I have found that most purses on Etsy that are made of similar materials run from $40-90, and most of them at the $40 mark. I would like to be competitive, but $40 leaves me with $20-25 for labor, which is less than minimum wage. I love sewing, but if I am sewing to sell, I want to earn a normal seamstress salary. So, the question boils down to this: is it fair to ask $80-100 for a purse? I plan on making every purse "one of a kind" (mostly because I hate doing the same thing over and over again), and I plan on making them all have as many details as this purse has (fancy stitches, ribbons, lace, trim etc.). If you'd like to give me your opinion, e-mail me or leave a comment on this post. Thanks!