Book Review: Simply Irresistible Bags

Simply Irresistible Bags: 45 Designs for Going Out, Looking Chic, and Shopping Green

by Marie Claire Idees

Published in 2008

ISBN: 978-1-57076-403-5

Some Chapter Headings:

• Simply Stylish
• Urban Chic
• For Children
• Storage

I liked:

• The Whimsically Retro Bag (page 18), the Artist's Satchel (page 42), and Off to the Orchard (page 80).
• That so many of these bags require skills I don't normally use. What a great way to learn how to dye fabric, punch leather, or perfect your running stitch.

My dislikes:

• I found that most of the bags lacked structure.
• The templates looked difficult to enlarge. You are given a set length that needs to be enlarged to a certain length, but it doesn't give percentages, so you have to do the math!

Conclusion: This book has some neat ideas, but I didn't love anything. I checked it out from the library, and since I wasn't planning to make a purse, I didn't actually try any of the patterns. Would I buy this book for myself? Nope. Should I decided later that one of those purses catches my fancy, I'll check it out again, but no need to spend money on it--unless you love bags! Would I buy this book for a beginner? Absolutely not. It assumes that you already have advanced beginner to intermediate skills.