Book Review and Giveaway:: The Complete Bag Making Masterclass by Mrs H

The rather talented Mrs H has written a book. Well, when I say book, I don’t mean your average run of the mill craft book. Mrs H has written what is indeed a Masterclass in Bag Making. It is a bona fide bag making reference book that dreams are made of!

This book is brilliant for both those completely new to bag making through to those that have been making bags for some time.

The Bag Making Masterclass includes patterns for 8 different bags, ranging from the small with the ‘Celebration Clutch’ to the larger ‘City Tote’ and ‘Explorer Carry-On’. To be honest though, that’s not the main focus of the book. The Bag Making Masterclass really is a great resource for Bag Making of all kinds, not just for the bag patterns in the book.

The book is essentially split into three sections:

• Tools & Materials
• Techniques
• Projects

Tools and Materials

The book starts off with a handy guide to all of the tools that you’ll need, followed by a guide on fabrics, interfacing and stabilizers as well as machine feet, needles and thread.

I think when you are new to bag making, trying to get your head around all of the bits and pieces and what is going on inside a bag can be really daunting, so having a guide like in this book is really valuable.

Being confident to use the right ‘materials’ will mean that your finished bag will be so much more professional looking.

Techniques

The techniques section really is where you will realise that this book is fabulous value for money. It takes up approximately half of the book and it packed full of great information.

You will learn all about pockets, handles & straps, adding zips and dividers, along with how to add linings and adding shape to your bags. There’s also a great guide on how to use and insert hardware. For me, this is where your bag making can be taken to the next level.

You don’t just learn how to use these skills for the projects in the book, you will learn how to measure up and be in a position where you can add them to any bag pattern!

Really importantly there is also a section that runs you through how to re-size bag patterns to fit your needs. There are lots of great photos to help you on your way.

Projects

There are 8 projects in the book and each of them use the skills that are used in the Techniques section. If, however you love the ‘Celebration Clutch’ but aren’t so keen on the pockets, you will be able to use the Techniques section to add the pockets of your dreams!

There are paper pattern pieces provided for all of the shaped pattern pieces, no tracing required! Measurements are provided for all of the rectangular pieces as there wasn’t enough room to print them all without layering them on top of each other. This is the only slight drawback I could find with the book, and you know what? I would rather draw out a rectangular pattern piece than try to trace it off the pattern equivalent of Spaghetti Junction (I learned to sew using Burda patterns and the pain will stick with me forever!). With these pattern pieces, you can just cut and go!

Want to SEE a run through of the whole of The Complete Bag Making Masterclass?

You can watch Mrs H run through her book via this video in her facebook group.

If you have not yet joined her group, do consider it. The group is a wonderful place to share your makes and get help if you are stuck with anything or looking for advice from fellow bag makers!

Want to WIN a copy of The Complete Bag Making Masterclass?

Drop by my facebook page and leave a comment on the pinned post. I will pick a winner at random after the end of the day Sunday 2^nd August 2020

Best of luck everyone!

Want to BUY a copy of The Complete Bag Making Masterclass?

You can buy a SIGNED copy of the book from the Mrs H website

The book is also available to buy from Amazon (they start shipping from July 31st 2020)

Do also see whether you are able to buy the book from your local craft/sewing/quilting store….always good to support your local stores where you can!

Disclosure – I have been given a pdf copy of the book for review (I was offered a hard copy, but I am currently abroad and I didn’t want it to get lost in the post!) and a hard copy to give away. The prize will be sent out directly from the publisher in the UK. All views are totally my own, and I hope you will feel the same way too about the book!