Mystery “Bag” Challenge: Kylie from Gypsy Boho Design

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to the 7th big reveal!  I am so excited to share with you Kylie from Gypsy Boho Design‘s Mystery “Bag” Challenge creation today 🙂

So without further ado…over the creator & owner of Gypsy Boho Design!

Hi, my name is Kylie Hammond, I’ve been sewing on a machine since I was around 7 years old and discovered a passion for bags early on. Bags are probably more an obsession than a passion and making them is just so much fun! After about 20 years in the banking industry it was time for a change and I’ve recently launched my pdf patterns with Gypsy Boho Design. I also operate Handbag Hardware Australia which helps to feed my desire for shiny trinkets!

Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/GypsyBoho

FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/353671058360193/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gypsybohodesign/

Handbag Hardware Australia: https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/HandbagHardwareOZ

Tenacious, creative, dependable, loyal, caring

I grew up on a dairy farm in a little place called Moto, which is near Taree in NSW

Since I was around 5 years old, 7 years old with a machine, my sister and I learnt to make clothes early on as this was our way of shopping!

When I have time to play away from sewing & shiny things, I also love gardening, cooking, fishing and painting (abstract)

Mainly bags however I still enjoy making clothes, especially anything from Tessuti in Melbourne, love their patterns and their linens.

Some people love shoes, some people love make-up, bags have been my thing since as long as I can remember. Maybe it has something to do with making colourful saddle bags to carry our “essentials” when riding as a young girl. For me though bags have always been an obsession.

My Favourite item was definitely the eyelets/grommets, we’ve got some awesome “No Tool” eyelets at Handbag Hardware Australia and it was a fabulous opportunity to test these little ones out.

This little mystery challenge design will be released late July 2017 in pdf format from Gypsy Boho Design and will be the fourth bag for GBD released, which for me is super exciting.

To create a free/paid pattern section, as Gypsy Boho Design patterns have only recently been released, I thought it was an excellent opportunity to create a new design for her portfolio.

The size, I’ve been wanting to make a smaller bag that can be made in a casual style or also be dressed up for a more formal occasion. It’s all about the fabric choice.

It was like a mystery box challenge on Master Chef (one of my favourite shows!) I loved being told here’s the hardware, make something beautiful from it! That really stretched my imagination. A designer more often than not will have a shape/overall picture in mind and add the hardware later, this tipped that idea on it’s head and I loved it. It was though a challenge, good to stretch out the grey matter every now and then and I love what came out of it! Thanks Emma.

Let’s have a look at what Kylie created for the Challenge in more detail…(oh and if you want a little recap on what the challenge was and what items were on the mystery list, just click here!)

Contestants it’s time to lift the lid off your mystery box!!!

Well that’s how it felt when Emma from Emkie Designs said here’s a list of items now go make a bag! Wow! What a concept to start from the hardware (one of my favourite things of course) and design a bag around this. Completely the opposite to how a bag is “normally designed”, with the hardware coming in at the end to bling it up. With my obsession for shiny things I couldn’t say no!

From the list of items I chose:

• D rings
• Eyelets
• Magnetic Snap

Some of you will already know I’m the being behind Handbag Hardware Australia and we have these awesome “No Tool” 11mm eyelets so I simply had to use these. The D ring is also a favourite of mine and I wanted to see if the humble D could be made into a feature instead of a function. The magnetic snap, so useful and easy to use, an essential in my books, but so often passed over for the more glamorous twist lock, the practical snap can be beautiful too.

After sitting with my chosen hardware on the workbench for many weeks, staring at me with its, well what are you going to do now look, finally a vision took shape. Sketching and sewing, 5 proformas later, Miss Ella was created.

I’d been wanting to create a smaller bag that could be crafted for either a casual event or a formal event. The final pattern will have a choice of interfacing combinations that can be used to transform her into a formal structured design or a walk in the park with puppy purse. All three elements, hardware, interfacing and fabric choice will dictate a bags overall end look, however, I love how interfacing can completely change how a bag behaves.

Miss Ella has been shown in her formal aspect here today and she’s created from:

Fabric

• Japanese Dobby Cloth (Navy)
• Pleather from MeTooPlease (Green)
• Lined with lovely yellow floral that I’ve completely lost the name of (selvage was cut off years ago)

Interfacing

• Decovil Light (Yes we will soon have this at HHA had to try it, how did I live without it!)
• 640 Fleece
• Lining has SF101

Hardware (Mystery Challenge – M/C)

• 2”/50mm D ring (M/C)
• 18mm Magnetic Snap (M/C)
• 11mm Eyelet (No Tool) (M/C)
• 20mm Swivel snap hooks
• 8mm x 3mm Chicago Screws
• 20mm strap ends

The Mystery Box challenge design, Miss Ella, will be published in late July 2017 and will be included in our Gypsy Boho Design portfolio as the forth bag in our new little venture!

Didn’t I tell you Kylie’s creation was amazing!  And I’m so looking forward to the pattern being released later in 2017 🙂

Until then, happy sewing!
Emma