Small projects that have big impact...One of the more enjoyable sewing projects I enjoy is making purses and handbags that I am sure will be unlike any other. The process begins with the usual strip-piecing and then begins to take on a life of its own. Instead of thinking vertical, one must think horizontal, fitting the zipper in below the fold. The photo shows one such fold-over purse with the knotted handle about to be applied. The next step will be to fold the right sides together and stitch the ends sealing the pocket and finalizing both the size and shape. But I get ahead of myself.
As promised here is the next in the photo-series. Handbags I have made; although this shows but a few. Look carefully at the lower right, simple fold-over bag. This is the first ever; made when I was in high school home ec an
d using the leftovers of upholstery fabric that Mother covered the seats of the dining room chairs.
Yes, Mother still had the dining room furniture but the seats have been RE-upholstered at least four times since then. I still have the bag and have used it many times in the nearly fifty years since. The silver leaf pin was a thrift shop find some years back and fits perfectly to my current fashion of wearing silver jewelry.
d using the leftovers of upholstery fabric that Mother covered the seats of the dining room chairs.Yes, Mother still had the dining room furniture but the seats have been RE-upholstered at least four times since then. I still have the bag and have used it many times in the nearly fifty years since. The silver leaf pin was a thrift shop find some years back and fits perfectly to my current fashion of wearing silver jewelry.
Next to the simple flat purse (lower left) are two barrel bags made in the 80's. The fabric was acquired on a China tour in 1982, where I found wax-resist, indigo dyed, cotton fabric in a shop near Shanghai, paid pennies for a meter (39"), shoving it into my luggage. A couple of years later I found this precious cotton in a drawer before moving to another house; thinking I would soon use it. A few more years when the need for a travel bag arose I pulled the fabric and made the bag shown at the back. After several travel tours when the bag was beginning to show wear and tear, I pulled the remaining yardage and began a second bag. Now cursing "why did I only buy ONE meter, it was cheap I could have had meters more!!" At any rate a smaller bag was achieved and this too is beginning to need "fixing up."
Once settled in North Carolina, and into my 'green' phase the upper left barrel bag emerged out of scraps from a really, scrappy wall hanging. Since then the idea of flat clutch bags appears at random and I usually find a print worthy of outline quilting (hence the butterfly bag), and have made several for friends. Last year I made a couple red/white/green bags for the holidays but afterwards thought they looked more like Italian Independence Day than Christmas (?). I could have submitted a bag to a charity auction but after my labor-intensive place mats brought a penance, decided not.
Once settled in North Carolina, and into my 'green' phase the upper left barrel bag emerged out of scraps from a really, scrappy wall hanging. Since then the idea of flat clutch bags appears at random and I usually find a print worthy of outline quilting (hence the butterfly bag), and have made several for friends. Last year I made a couple red/white/green bags for the holidays but afterwards thought they looked more like Italian Independence Day than Christmas (?). I could have submitted a bag to a charity auction but after my labor-intensive place mats brought a penance, decided not.
The source for these indulgent bags is my basket of fabric fall-offs (crumbs), when I see a few colors that appeal to me and have too little for anything else, then a magic bag appears. Not quite sure why that happens.
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