I’ve recently finished another Regency reticule (I say another, because not too long ago I posted about a new red and gold reticule). This one is circular!
I was inspired by an image and directions found in The American Girl’s Book: Or, Occupation For Play Hours, which can be viewed here, on google books (the directions for the circular reticule are found on page 262). I was particularly encouraged by having already gathered silk strips left over after adjusting my brown fur muff at the end of last year. In addition to the leftover gathered silk strips, I used some pink silk scraps backed with coutil for the center of the circles, a bit of peach cotton for the lining, pink poly ribbon for the handles (it was the best color, even though it wasn’t silk), and, for the beading, 2 buckles I picked up for $1 each.
I didn’t really follow the directions, instead I just made up my own order of events. I started by cutting out the center circle and basting the coutil to the silk. Then I placed the buckles on these circles and pinned the gathered silk around the edges After that I sewed the edges. The next step was to sew the two finished sides together, then sew a lining of two more circles of the cotton. The last thing was to sew on the ribbons and whip stitch the top edges of the silk to the lining.
I decided not to have my ribbons gather the opening, because I so like the look of the circle and really didn’t want to ruin the effect. Plus, the reticule just perfectly fits my phone right now, and if the top was gathered it might not fit! Yay for a relatively quick project that’s entirely hand sewn. It’s exciting to have more reticule options!
The Quintessential Clothes Pen 
It’s great! So the gathered silk is all the same diameter and you sew one edge to the circle in the middle and the other edge to the lining? Clever you!
Yes, the ivory silk is cut from straight strips that are gathered more tightly in the middle than the outside. Thanks for reading and commenting!
Thank you for sharing your projects!
So cute, and I love the pearl trim!
pretty! With all these reticule options, you are going to end up being the only one who can be relied on to have her phone!
I adore this: the shape, the color, the pearls…everything! I want to make one of these too! Lovely job!
Aww, this is too lovely! I definitely need a round reticule now!
Oh my…le sigh…I am so in love with this reticule! What a fabulous little accessory! Very well done on it!
Blessings!
Gina
This is one of my favorite bag designs/constructions. The nifty things that can be done with the center and the puff of silk fluff around the outside is just too much fun. I also find it fun how the construction carries over from a reticule in the Regency era to workbags by the mid-century. (I really need to get around to photographing the cotton one with a flap I did.)
btw, I just realized you fell off my blog feed over the summer. I knew something was missing. I have so much to catch up on.
Anna
I’m going to sew this for the accessories challenge this month, my push to do a project I’ve always wanted to do. The link doesn’t work anymore but I think this is still easy to do. Thanks for some of your details!
Laurie
That’s exciting! I probably rearranged my Pinterest boards and moved the pin to a different board. I’ve fixed it now, and here it is again in case you want to see it: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/19562579605068328/
I look forward to seeing yours!
I started working on this last night but I’m so confused! Why? This will take me a while. lol Thanks for updating the link. That was a great site!
Laurie