Sewing project no.2!

I thought I'd show you sewing project no.2... chuffed to bits with it, though of course I can also see what I could've done better. It is a bag I made chiefly from Clarke & Clarke fabric for the birthday of one of my best, loveliest, kindest, beautifulist (sic) friends. So it needed to at least try and be as lovely as she.

Nice? I am so pleased with it. Didn't have a pattern but I seemed to manage okay. Postives & negatives?

• Everything lined up!
• Really liked my idea to embellish the bag with the two strips of ribbon and the contrasting buttons. It makes it a bit more individual.
• I managed neat stitches in parallel lines.
• I also managed neatly hand-sewn buttons.
• This friend is a bit of a champion baker and lover of old-fashioned tea crockery, so the fabric was a good find.
• Turning the handles out - oh my goodness, how laborious and difficult. I read somewhere about making handles and that there is a special tool for doing it. I think I need that tool!
• Tension problems again, but the satisfaction of fixing them.
• Didn't quite manage to get it done in time - it arrived a day late. But the pressure of a deadline can detract from the enjoyment of sewing so I had to balance the two.

Thanks to my clever husband by the way, for the photos.