Lazies, I am terribly excited to introduce you to our new Girl the ‘Claire Handbag’. Claire will be here in June and I’ll keep you posted. There’s a link to more pics at the end of this post.

Claire Handbag shown in an upcoming fabric line ‘Belle Fleur’ by Karen Combs ^[1] from Avlyn.

The Wow Factor
The angled inset at the center of the bag is just cool, cool, cool. And easy, too. It offers the opportunity for an extra deep outside pocket, perfect for keys, phone or other small items.  And goodness, there’s a pocket on the other side, too. Nice!

The angled silhouette of the center panel mimics the overall shape of the bag. Claire is perfect for featuring a combination of strong prints and different scale designs. We’ll talk more about choosing fabrics in a future blog post.

Fabric Fun
The front and back of the bag have reverse fabric placements. Two main fabrics create three panels on each side of the bag. One side is white/green/white, the other is green/white/green. Pockets are the same fabric on both sides, located atop the center panel.

Here is the other side of the bag.

I love how the fabrics meet at the side seams.

Purse, Basket, Project Tote
Claire offers an interesting mix of uses. As she is, I think of her not only as ideal for a purse, but perfect for a project tote. Especially knitting or other handwork with the way she sits open and at attention. And I can’t shake the feeling that she is a spring basket, too, ready to accompany me on a walk through the park.

I have to tell you – I adore this design.  It’s sweet, simple yet not plain, functional with a hint of sass.  I look forward to discovering how she fits into my stable of purses, bags, totes and more.

Two New Lazy Tricks
Claire stands up nice and tall with one layer of batting for the cover and one layer of interfacing for the lining. A new Lazy construction trick helps her stand tall and open.

The short handles are my preference. Due to another special Lazy construction trick, the handles behave nicely,  resting across the top of the bag neatly and at the ready.

Details on both of these tricks are in the pattern, coming this June.

Claire pattern cover.

Arrival Date
Claire will be here in June.  Check with your local quilt shop to see if they will be offering her.

I will keep you posted about our new Girl, her debut at quilt market later this month in Pittsburgh and I hope to share some details and new pics on my blog over the coming weeks.

Claire Details
Size: 10 1/4″ wide at the bottom and 9 1/4″ tall by 4″ deep.
She uses our Bag-E-Bottom size F, same as Mini Mi.
Fabric: 7 fat quarters, 3 for the outside 4 for the inside.
Loaded with inside pockets.
Two outside pockets, one on each side.
Handles in two lengths: short and medium.

More Pics!
I’ve created an album of images of Claire at our website here ^[2].

I’ll feature some of these bags on my blog in the next week or so as I prepare to head off to Quilt Market in Pittsburgh for her debut. I hope you like our new Girl.

Enjoy!
Joan