Friday, November 19, 2010

'Terrible Top' Purse (Repurposed)- Part 2

Sewing in the zipper.
 


Attaching the handle.
 


Plain back side of purse.
 


Front side of purse with 'flags'.
 


As soon as I realized that my top was not to be (sniffle)...

...I knew that the resultant felt would make an interesting purse.

I cut two handles from the long edges of the top...

...then rounded off the ends of each one.

Maximizing the area of the remaining felt...

...I cut two matching purse sides (with acute angles at the bottom).

To make the handles, I sewed the strips in half, lengthwise...

...leaving the ends free for attachment.

After installing the zipper, I attached the handles...

...and sewed on lots of little colored flags (trimmings from my pillow covers).

I decided to leave one side of the purse plain...

...so that it can be worn more comfortably against the body.

In order to give some volume to the finished bag...

...I cut a small square from the bottom corner of each piece.

I sewed up the sides and bottom of the bag...

...leaving the cut out sections alone.

Finally, I flattened the bag, perpendicular to the bottom seam...

...and sewed up each end (resulting in a squared-off bag bottom).

Now who (except for those of you in the know)...

...would ever guess how this bag started out?? Giggle.



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15 comments:

Fi said...

I just love the way you've attached the handles. i can't quite work out how.

vilterietje said...

heather i love it! great solution for something that did not turn out the way it has to be.
that's the great thing about felting.love, riet:)

Heather Woollove said...

Fiona--When I stitched along the length of each handle, I left about 1 & 1/2 inches unstitched at each end. Since the handle piece was rounded off at each end, I could flatten it out and sew it to the bag...that's what formed the 'circle'. (Hope this helps--it's easier to do than explain!!)

Riet--Thanks! (I laughed so hard the other day when you said that we both 'do first and think later'!! True, so true!!!)

Kelly said...

Love it!

Suzanne said...

Lemonade out of lemons -- I love it! Such a clever bag.

Joei Rhode Island said...

Great save....someone told me: There are no failures in felt...only new design options.

Patty Biermans said...

You clever girl!!! Using the remains of you're other felting things.....as decoration.
I LOVE IT!! Greetings....Peebee

Heather Woollove said...

Thanks, ladies!
Joei--I really like that..."new design options"...it makes messing up sound so purposeful and artistic!!
:)

TUTU Monkey said...

Love it!!! Man you are so talented!!!

Just poppin in to see how you are doing!!! Have a happy weekend!!

Dawn Edwards/Felt So Right said...

Well that "terrible top" was just calling out to be a purse. I LOVE IT!!!! You are so clever. This is a stunning bag and you have definitely turned lemons into lemonade.I'll be gathering up all of my "lemons" and re-purposing them, too, after seeing your shining example.

Hope you're enjoying the start to the weekend.

Hugs,
Dawn

Heather Woollove said...

Dana--So great to hear from you, and I'm thrilled to see that your hubby is back and safe. Enjoy!!!

Dawn--Kewl...I'll be looking forward to seeing your 'sour to sweet' projects soon!!

Truly Unique by Elise said...

Great job re-purposing!!!...I also love the way you did the handles!!! Congrats!!!

Anonymous said...

WOW Heather, how frustrating about the top but you do have a GORGEOUS purse! Hope all is well with you and now that I am starting to catch up back here I hope to be in touch more often!!! XXX Nicola

Heather Woollove said...

Thanks, Nicola (and I'm glad you like Jan's pillow, too!! I had to work hard to keep him from reading
about it!!).
I'm glad things have calmed down for you a bit, too. Hugs-

Jackie said...

What a transformation . Well done.