The Finished Purse

Well after much deliberation, I decided to use the green/chocolate stars print and the green/yellow, pink blossom print to make my first purse.

Overall, the purse took about 4 hours to design and sew, however, I made the purse over the course of 2 days. I started with the design yesterday and cut out the fabric, but decided to stop and do some yard work since it was so beautiful outside. Last night, by body told me I should have stayed inside to sew, because I was really tired. I got up early this morning before my daughter got up so I could finish the purse. I really am happy with the way that it turned out, and can't wait to use it tomorrow.

I only had a few problems making the purse. I struggled with getting the pattern the right shape, and then getting the straps the right size. When I was sewing, I found that my string kept breaking when I got to a really thick layer. I think that it broke at least 20 times, and I was ready to give up, but kept on. I ended up having to hand sew those areas that were extra thick. I also forgot to leave an opening so I could turn the purse right side out, but I quickly remedied this.

There are definitely flaws in the overall project, but I am happy that it is done. I really do like it and can't wait to create another one later in the year. This was a project happily done.

Inspiration Begins

For the past few months I have been desperately searching for a new purse, but I could never find one that I wanted. Recently I thought to myself that I could sew me a purse and be able to choose fabric that I liked. I went out to shop fabric but ran into a dead end. Since my local quilt shop closed, I have found it hard to find fabric that inspires me. So I invariably turned to the Internet, and found myself spending hours looking at fabric. There were so many wonderful colors and patterns that it was hard to choose. I would find a site and start piling up anything that I really liked into my shopping cart. I then had to cut it down to my favorites. At some points I had up to 30 different fabrics in my cart. I finally did, however, narrow it down to three.

I will be making my own interpretation of the Amy Butler "the swing bag". You can see a picture of this bag at amybutlerdesign.com. I have been checking out books at the library to find out how to make a purse, and I think I have a pretty good idea how to make up my own pattern for this bag. I may have to spend more time on this project than I intended, but I know the end result will be something that I will be proud of.

The fabrics that I picked have variations on botanical prints. For some reason, in this time in my life, I have found that I am drawn to them. The purse will be reversible, so now I have to narrow down my fabrics to two. I think I know which two I will be using, because I really love the other and want to do something special with it. First I need to do the purse, and then maybe I will find the inspiration to so something really wonderful with the other.