What a Bride Needs

What does a bride-to-be need for the big day? 
A dress, of course.  Shoes.  Cake.  A groom.
All those are kind of "givens", but sometimes the unexpected arises.

And so we have the Emergency Bridal Kit!
... all tucked inside a clutch that can be used for the big day!

Above are the goodies inside the kit:  mints, lip balm, hair pins, bandages, a mini-sewing kit, dressmaker's tape and a little "mini" to calm any jittery nerves.

The dressmaker's tape comes in a little tin (far left), but I only included a few strips in the kit just for emergency gapes or slipping shoulders.  I had to include a L-A-R-G-E tin of mints because I couldn't find something smaller, but it still fits in the bag.

I made a mini-sewing kit from some simple felt.  It includes a few buttons, a sewing needle, some thread and safety pins.  Before packaging, I slipped the hair pins onto one of the pages in the sewing kit.

The clutch was done in a silky, textured white exterior.  I thought about simple white cotton, but I thought something a little "shinier" would look a little dressier.  The bag exterior fabric is interfaced as is the interior fabric.  Since the white fabric is a bit sheer, I didn't want any color bleed through of the purple lining.  Plus, the interfacing gives the bag more structure.

The bag was pleated before binding the interior seams with fabric.  It was a new-to-me binding technique I was trying out.  I really liked it.  Since the exterior fabric was kind of slippery, it was easier to seam it this way.  Plus, the fabric binding helps protect the fabric edges from fraying due to friction.  You can see a bit of the seam binding in the pics below.

I made a little side tab for the removable strap.  This way the bag can be a wristlet to wear or more of a cosmetics bag to go inside another bag.

Since I made this for a specific bride-to-be, I knew that her favorite color would be best for the lining.  AND since I happen to have easy access to the shibori dyer who lives here (hee hee hee) I could get exactly what I wanted for the lining.  AND he happens to be the bride-to-be's brother!  So it could be a gift from us both!

BTW I love this particular tying method for the shibori.  It reminds me of sea urchins or sand dollars. 

And I love to wrap presents so here's a shot of the package.  I'm a little "Martha" when it comes to gift wrapping.  A little extra fold or tuck here or there adds a little extra "oomph".  And double-sided tape is a wrapper's best friend.  Trust me.  Get it.  Use it.