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Loretta's Last Purses

Loretta's Last Purses

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Verna Stiles
Handcrafted by Loretta ("Retta") Halcomb
★★★★★ 4.8 (795)
Loretta's Last Purses

Loretta's Last Purses

$49.00
$49.00 $69.00
SAVE $20 Sold out

Halcomb & Daughter · Berea, Kentucky

Drawn at a Bench on Dogwood Ridge Road

Loretta “Retta” Halcomb is sixty-eight. Her father, Otis, opened Halcomb Leather Goods on Marlow Street in 1949, and she started at the end of his bench at fourteen. His name has been on that window for seventy-seven years, and she still opens the shop on Saturdays.

For eleven years she stitched this purse herself, one at a time, about fourteen hours apiece. The waiting list got to fourteen months. Then her hands slowed down, and she had her pattern made up properly in a workshop — seven samples, six of them sent back.

What she did not plan for was the customers going. A lot of them had been her father’s, and they were very old. Six days a week became Saturdays. In March she started boxing up the bench to bring it home. Her daughter Renae talked her out of it and built this page instead.

Twelve hundred purses, paid for out of her own savings, and she has looked at every one of them.

1,200 In this run
54 Years with leather
14 Months getting it right
19 She pulled back out

“I bought a purse at a department store — third one that year — and the strap frayed at the ring inside of five weeks. I set it on the bench next to a wallet I stitched in 1979 that a woman at my church is still carrying, and I thought: nobody makes anything with any love in it anymore. So I made myself one.”

Loretta Halcomb, Berea, Kentucky
What you receive

Everything That Ships With Your Purse

The purse 7.5 × 4.5 × 2.5 inches. Clear touch window on the back panel, six card slots, a bill slot, a zip coin pocket, and two zipped compartments alongside the phone slot.
A strap that comes all the way off Detachable at both ends and adjustable to 52 inches, so it sits at the hip rather than under your arm. Unclip it and the purse drops into a larger bag without a strap tangling everything else in there.
Whatever colour is still on the shelf Eight colours went into this run, and what you can pick from is simply what has not gone yet. She paid for the run once, out of her own savings, and she is not planning another.
Ninety days to send it back Carry it for ninety days. If it isn’t right, whatever the reason, send it back for a full refund. One email is enough.
Seven samples, six sent back

She Kept the List

Fourteen months went by before one of the samples was right. She wrote what was wrong with each on the back of a feed store calendar page, and she has not thrown it out.

Samples — what’s wrong with them

  • Strap too short — hits under the arm
  • Card slots won’t take a license
  • Flap needs two hands
  • Zip pull too small to grab in January
  • Won’t close over a phone with a case
  • Window wrinkles when you press it
No. 7 — this one’ll do
Why this one

What a Nine-Dollar Phone Pouch Cannot Do

Most small purses with a clear window are drawn backwards from a landed cost. This one was drawn by a woman who spent fifty-four years repairing the exact places where other people’s bags come apart.

01 — The test

Pull on the ring where the strap attaches

This is the four-second check, and almost nobody has been shown it. Take up the slack on the strap ring and watch the panel behind it. On a purse built down to a price, that panel puckers — the ring is set through a single layer and it will let go inside a year. Hers is anchored through a reinforced panel and the material does not move.

02 — The strap

Fifty-two inches, because forty-two is useless

Sample one came back with a strap that hit her under the arm. “A crossbody that rides under your arm is just a purse you cannot get into.” This strap adjusts to 52 inches and detaches at both ends. It reaches the hip on a tall woman, shortens properly on a small one, and comes off entirely when you want the purse inside a bigger bag.

03 — The fit

It closes over a big phone with the case on

This is the complaint that ends most purses of this kind, and it is the sample she sent back twice. The phone compartment takes a large modern smartphone with a protective case still on it, and it shuts. If your phone is unusually thick, measure before you order — and if it does not fit, that is what the ninety days are for.

04 — The window

What the window does

Read a text, answer a call, skip a song, punch in a code, all with the phone still in the purse. The window is stitched in rather than glued, because glue lets go in a hot car. 

05 — The layout

Cards, change and phone do not share a pocket

Two zipped compartments plus the phone slot, six card slots sized for a US driver’s licence, a bill slot and a zip coin pocket. “Loose change in with your cards is how you end up digging anyway. If you have to dig, I have not solved anything.”

From the shoebox under her bench

“Dear Retta — I have carried the little purse you made me every day for six years. Somebody asks me where I got it about once a week. I tell them a woman in Berea made it and they never believe me.”

Before it goes in the box

What She Looks At First

Fifty-four years of mending other people’s bags taught her where they die. She checked every one of the twelve hundred herself and pulled nineteen back out.

Her own bench note “Small bags came into Daddy’s shop for two reasons and it was almost never the material. It was the strap anchor, where a ring had been set through one layer and had slowly chewed its way out under load. And it was the corner of a card pocket, where the stitch stopped instead of turning. Both are decisions somebody made to save four minutes on the bench. So that is what I check: I pull the strap ring and watch the panel, and I run a thumbnail along every cut edge to see if it is sealed or fuzzy. Nineteen of them did not pass. Those are in a box in the wash house and they are not going anywhere.” Loretta Halcomb — Dogwood Ridge Road, Berea, Kentucky
The run

Eight Colours Went Into It

She named them after what she can see out of the wash house window, and after her father’s shop. What you can choose from is whatever has not gone yet.

Dogwood Light Pink
Redbud Dark Pink
Sage Hollow Mint
Harness Brown
Creek Stone Grey
Chicory Blue
Barn Red Red
Sunday Black Black
What comes with it

Four Things You Get With Every One

A sealed edge, not a fuzzy one Run a thumbnail along any cut edge. It should feel slick and closed, not soft and fibrous. An unfinished edge drinks water and frays outward from the corner. “Daddy would have sent the whole batch back over an edge like that.”
A window stitched in, not glued Look at the seam around the clear panel from the inside. Stitched through, all the way around. Glued windows are cheaper and they lift at the corner the first hot summer the purse spends in a car.
Checked by her, one at a time Every purse in the run went across her bench before it went into a box. Nineteen did not pass and are still sitting in the wash house. She is the last word on all of it — she drew it, she picked the material, she sent six samples back, and she is the one who says whether a finished one ships.
The first run she has sold outside her own county This is not a closing-down sale. The shop on Marlow Street is still open — Saturdays, and the first Thursday of the month — and her father’s name is still on the window, which is the reason she will not let it go. She paid for these twelve hundred once, out of her own savings, to keep those Saturdays going.
The details

Specifications

Dimensions
7.5″ H × 4.5″ W × 2.5″ D (19 × 11.5 × 6.5 cm)
Material
Soft pebbled man-made leather. Wipe-clean, light, holds its shape and does not crack in heat.
Touch window
Clear panel on the back, stitched in rather than glued. Read texts, answer calls and enter a passcode with the phone still inside. Does support Face ID.
Phone fit
Takes a large modern smartphone with a protective case on. Measure first if your phone is unusually thick.
Inside
Six card slots sized for a US driver’s licence, one bill slot, one zip coin pocket, two zipped compartments plus the phone slot.
Strap
Detachable at both ends, adjustable to 52 inches. Crossbody, over one shoulder, or removed entirely.
Hardware
Brushed gold-tone zippers and lobster clasps. Zip pulls sized to grab with dry hands.
Colours
Dogwood, Redbud, Sage Hollow, Harness, Creek Stone, Chicory, Barn Red, Sunday Black.
Care
Wipe with a damp cloth and mild soap, air dry. No machine wash, no tumble dryer, keep away from direct heat.
Variation
Minor differences in stitch line and shade between purses are normal and are not a defect.
Designed by
Loretta Halcomb — the wash house on Dogwood Ridge Road, Berea, Kentucky. At the bench since she was fourteen.
Checked by
Loretta, one at a time, before boxing. Nineteen of the twelve hundred were pulled back out and are not for sale.
Before this run
Eleven years of purses stitched entirely by her own hand, about fourteen hours each, and one earlier workshop run sold across the counter in the shop. 
This run
1,200 purses, paid for once out of her own savings — the first she has sold outside Madison County in fifty-four years.
Sold by
Halcomb & Daughter — the only place these are sold.
Shipping
Ships within 2–4 business days. Free returns for ninety days.
Guarantee
90-day full refund, no questions asked.
Retta Halcomb Berea, Kentucky
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The Final Sale

Message from the Artist:

After years of making things by hand, our workshop is closing. These are the last pieces we'll ever ship. Every item on this page was made slowly, carefully, and with more love than any factory could replicate. Nothing rushed. Nothing outsourced. Just real craft from real hands.

We're proud of every single one. We hope they find good homes.

When they're gone, they're gone — and so are we.

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Shipping with UPS / USPS

Free shipping across the United States

- Delivery time: 7–14 business days
- Insured: Every package is fully insured

🌳 Carbon-neutral shipping with UPS / USPS

View full details

800+ Happy Customers

Excellent 4.9

What Loretta's customers are saying

My neighbor bought hers first and I gave her no peace until I ordered one too. Now we both wear them into town and I have quit carrying a handbag entirely. Mine is the pink, hers is the blue, and between us we have had three people stop us on the sidewalk to ask about them. For thirty-nine dollars I expected far less than this.

Verified

Wanda K., Columbus OH

I dumped the whole thing out on the kitchen table because my husband did not believe me. Glasses, hairbrush, lipstick, keys, tissues, cards, cash and the phone — all of that came out of one little bag that still zips shut flat. The card slots take my license without a fight, which is more than I can say for the wallet I carried for nine years.

Verified

Denise M., Little Rock AR

My daughter calls around seven most evenings and I used to miss half of them hunting for the phone. Now I tap the green circle right through the clear panel and I am talking to her. It works every single time, no pressing hard, no taking the phone out. I have had it since March and the window has not clouded or wrinkled once.

Verified

Sharon B., Spokane WA

I took a picture of myself in the hallway mirror before church because I could not believe how little it shows. It sits flat, it does not swing, and it holds everything I actually need. My old purse is still on the closet shelf and I have not touched it since the day this came. The red is prettier in person than on the screen.

Verified

Rita D., Minnesota

Grocery day is what sold me on it. Card in the front, keys in the back, phone in the window, and both hands free for the cart. I am not setting my purse down in the child seat and then panicking halfway to the car anymore. It goes under the seatbelt without coming off and it does not slide around while I drive.

Verified

Nancy F., Ottumwa IA

My neighbor bought hers first and I gave her no peace until I ordered one too. Now we both wear them into town and I have quit carrying a handbag entirely. Mine is the pink, hers is the blue, and between us we have had three people stop us on the sidewalk to ask about them. For thirty-nine dollars I expected far less than this.

Verified

Wanda K., Columbus OH

I dumped the whole thing out on the kitchen table because my husband did not believe me. Glasses, hairbrush, lipstick, keys, tissues, cards, cash and the phone — all of that came out of one little bag that still zips shut flat. The card slots take my license without a fight, which is more than I can say for the wallet I carried for nine years.

Verified

Denise M., Little Rock AR

My daughter calls around seven most evenings and I used to miss half of them hunting for the phone. Now I tap the green circle right through the clear panel and I am talking to her. It works every single time, no pressing hard, no taking the phone out. I have had it since March and the window has not clouded or wrinkled once.

Verified

Sharon B., Spokane WA

I took a picture of myself in the hallway mirror before church because I could not believe how little it shows. It sits flat, it does not swing, and it holds everything I actually need. My old purse is still on the closet shelf and I have not touched it since the day this came. The red is prettier in person than on the screen.

Verified

Rita D., Minnesota

Grocery day is what sold me on it. Card in the front, keys in the back, phone in the window, and both hands free for the cart. I am not setting my purse down in the child seat and then panicking halfway to the car anymore. It goes under the seatbelt without coming off and it does not slide around while I drive.

Verified

Nancy F., Ottumwa IA

My neighbor bought hers first and I gave her no peace until I ordered one too. Now we both wear them into town and I have quit carrying a handbag entirely. Mine is the pink, hers is the blue, and between us we have had three people stop us on the sidewalk to ask about them. For thirty-nine dollars I expected far less than this.

Verified

Wanda K., Columbus OH

I dumped the whole thing out on the kitchen table because my husband did not believe me. Glasses, hairbrush, lipstick, keys, tissues, cards, cash and the phone — all of that came out of one little bag that still zips shut flat. The card slots take my license without a fight, which is more than I can say for the wallet I carried for nine years.

Verified

Denise M., Little Rock AR

My daughter calls around seven most evenings and I used to miss half of them hunting for the phone. Now I tap the green circle right through the clear panel and I am talking to her. It works every single time, no pressing hard, no taking the phone out. I have had it since March and the window has not clouded or wrinkled once.

Verified

Sharon B., Spokane WA

I took a picture of myself in the hallway mirror before church because I could not believe how little it shows. It sits flat, it does not swing, and it holds everything I actually need. My old purse is still on the closet shelf and I have not touched it since the day this came. The red is prettier in person than on the screen.

Verified

Rita D., Minnesota

Grocery day is what sold me on it. Card in the front, keys in the back, phone in the window, and both hands free for the cart. I am not setting my purse down in the child seat and then panicking halfway to the car anymore. It goes under the seatbelt without coming off and it does not slide around while I drive.

Verified

Nancy F., Ottumwa IA

My neighbor bought hers first and I gave her no peace until I ordered one too. Now we both wear them into town and I have quit carrying a handbag entirely. Mine is the pink, hers is the blue, and between us we have had three people stop us on the sidewalk to ask about them. For thirty-nine dollars I expected far less than this.

Verified

Wanda K., Columbus OH

I dumped the whole thing out on the kitchen table because my husband did not believe me. Glasses, hairbrush, lipstick, keys, tissues, cards, cash and the phone — all of that came out of one little bag that still zips shut flat. The card slots take my license without a fight, which is more than I can say for the wallet I carried for nine years.

Verified

Denise M., Little Rock AR

My daughter calls around seven most evenings and I used to miss half of them hunting for the phone. Now I tap the green circle right through the clear panel and I am talking to her. It works every single time, no pressing hard, no taking the phone out. I have had it since March and the window has not clouded or wrinkled once.

Verified

Sharon B., Spokane WA

I took a picture of myself in the hallway mirror before church because I could not believe how little it shows. It sits flat, it does not swing, and it holds everything I actually need. My old purse is still on the closet shelf and I have not touched it since the day this came. The red is prettier in person than on the screen.

Verified

Rita D., Minnesota

Grocery day is what sold me on it. Card in the front, keys in the back, phone in the window, and both hands free for the cart. I am not setting my purse down in the child seat and then panicking halfway to the car anymore. It goes under the seatbelt without coming off and it does not slide around while I drive.

Verified

Nancy F., Ottumwa IA

Freqquently Asked Questions

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Got a question? Here's how to reach us.

My wife and I personally respond to every single email — as fast as we possibly can. Whether you have a question about your order or just want to talk craft, we're here.

You can reach us:

  • Mon – Fri: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (CT)
  • Saturday: 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM (CT)

Email: info@craftfolk.com

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Can I return my order if I don't like it?

Of course. We stand behind everything on CraftFolk 100%. If you're not happy, neither are we. Just shoot us an email within 90 days and we'll make it right — no hassle, no headaches.

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