Before the holidays, I treated myself to this kit and last week I finished it up.

The kit came from Babylon Leather – you can order it right here.

All the leather pieces are cut, and the kit comes with everything you need to complete the bag. There’s a video to walk you through all the steps. It’s a lot of sewing! I’m really pleased with the result, though, and have (of course) ordered another kit from them.

There is something wonderful about a kit. You don’t have to make any decisions. You just follow the steps and end up with a gorgeous result. I’m on the lookout for more kits this winter. (Yes, I still have those Alice Starmore mittens to knit. My needles in that size are in the intarsia socks.)

In the meantime, the zipper broke on my old reliable Roots bag, the one I’ve been using for over 30 years – the one my mister calls The Abyss. After all this purse-making, I realized I could replace the zipper and save the bag. (!!) I can even move the Roots zipper tab to the new zipper tape. I’m excited about this restoration project – even if it does make me think of the intro theme to the Six Million Dollar Man television show. (“We can rebuild him. We have the technology…”)

I’ve also been sewing, for myself and not for the girls, which has been good.