Valentine Swap Purse- Part 2 of 2

The front side of the felted and dried purse with resist removed...

...and the back side with felted-in closure loop.

Trimming excess felt from the purse flap prior to stitching.

The front of the finished purse after stitching.

A white lining makes it easier to find things! :)

The 'design side' of the purse with hand-dyed pink leather strap.

The bag with secured front flap.

The heart design in close-up.

As much as I appreciate that you all took the high road in your Part 1 comments...

...I'm finding it difficult to ignore the 'elephant in the room' two posts in a row.

 Yes...I'm fully aware that the 'in process' photos of this project have a rather...erm...anatomical look to them...

...but I think you'll agree that the resulting purse is quite tasteful! :)

Giggles aside, I really wanted you to see exactly how this purse was constructed...

...since I think that the resulting flap is worth the...well...resulting flap~!!

After removing the resist and letting the piece dry...

...I trimmed away extra material from the flap to make it easier to fold and stitch.

I top-stitched around the opening to the purse and the entire flap...

...then made holes in the purse (front and back) for the leather handle.

I stitched a pleat into the center of the flap...

...to make a scout neckerchief kind of closure for the bag.

BTW: I used Scarlet Rit Dye in my washing machine with a piece of deer hide...

...to get the resulting pink leather for this project.

Valentine Swap Purse- Part 1 of 2

Newly designed foam floor underlayment resist.

Using white roving for the inside of the bag this time...

...and variegated pink roving for the bag's exterior.

The fully wrapped resist, prior to embellishment.

Adding a cut-out art batt heart...

...and concentric hearts made from blue tussah silk.

Making a loop for the purse closure.

The finished back side with silk, art batt and cotton sliver accents.

My friend, Linda hosted a Valentine swap recently...

...and this year, I decided to join in all the fun!

I envisioned making a smallish purse...

...suitable for romantic dinner dates and the like.

I also wanted the resist to be roughly heart-shaped...

...to echo the design elements that I had planned for the back side of the purse.

Working from inside to outside this time...

...I started with white roving for the purse interior.

Next, I wrapped the resist with layers of variegated pink roving...

...and added a loop for the purse closure.

For the embellishments, I cut a heart shape from a bit of art batt...

...and surrounded it with thin lines of tussah silk top.

And just for fun, I filled in one section of the concentric heart design...

...with tufts of cocoa and cream cotton sliver.

Next time: the finished purse...

...with hand-dyed leather strap.

A Minor Foray into "Fabric Land" Part 2 of 2

Stitching a layer of denim to a layer of PUL...

...and sandwiching in a silken cord.

Turned right-side out and top-stitched...

...with the tie-cord now visible.

Sewing up the side seams.

The finished make-up bag with button and shortened (cut and tied) cord.

The open bag, showing its waterproof, PUL lining...

...and, now, peering inside.

The back side of the bag (opened up)...

...and the front, again, with all of its wrinkles! :)

My daughter had a pair of artificially wrinkled, skinny jeans...

...that had not held up well with wear.

She asked whether I could make a denim make-up bag from them for her...

...that would also be impervious to spills and inadvertent 'blush compact openings'. :)

Since I have a friend who sews her own cloth diaper covers...

...I knew exactly what to line the denim with...

...PUL (Polyurethane Laminate)!

For those of you who have never heard of it...

...it's made by laminating a thin plastic film to fabric...

...to make it washable and waterproof.

It's wonderful for things like re-usable cloth lunch and snack bags...

...but it also has some drawbacks, since it cannot be ironed or put into the dryer.

I stitched the denim layer to the PUL with right sides 'in', enclosing a cord and leaving an opening...

...then turned it right side out and top-stitched the entire perimeter.

I sewed up the sides to form a bag, trimmed the cord to the proper length...

...and attached a button that we had found in a small quilt shop in Bath, England.

It's always nice to re-fashion bits of fabric that seem unredeemable...

...and the detailing on the jeans made for an interesting design on the finished bag!

A Minor Foray Into "Fabric Land" Part 1 of 2

Assembling the pieces of my needle-case project...

...using a vintage table runner for the fabric.

Adding velcro prior to sewing the two parts together...

...this way, it won't show on the exterior of the finished case.

Pinning the layers together prior to stitching.

The finished case front...

...and back...

...and opened up, holding needles.

Another one, but larger this time (and rounded off on all four corners)...

...to hold even more needles!

Because I've been using my sewing machine a bit more lately...

...to fashion fabric linings and leather straps for my felted bags...

...I recently purchased a large quantity of needles.

In order to keep the 'regulars' from the 'denims' and the 'leathers'...

...I decided to fashion a fabric case for them.

Luckily for me, I found that Laura had already posted a terrific tutorial on this project...

...and for once, I didn't have to 'reinvent the wheel'! :)

My only 'amendments' to her instructions are as follows:

I didn't leave any 'ease' in the elastic as I was sewing it on...

...(finding that it held better this way)...

 ...and I used velcro instead of snaps as a fastener...

...sewing it to each piece of fabric prior to sewing them together.

(Please make sure to check the position of each piece prior to sewing...

...since one needs to be at the top, and one at the bottom!)

Next time: a make-up bag made from old jeans...

...and a quite new kind of fabric!

Daughter No. 4's Striped Work Purse

My daughter's striped layout...working 'inside-out'.

After felting...trimming one flap for use as an inner pocket.

Sewing on the fabric lining after cutting a slit in the inner felt flap.

The finished bag front...

...and back.

The raw-edged purse flap in close-up...

...and the bag inside, showing the fabric-lined inner pocket.

Here she is, modeling her new purse...

...while borrowing my (what else?!?) orange fleece jacket.

(Never fear, dear readers...it's an 'indoor' jacket...

...even I won't wear this much neon orange out in public!!) Giggle.

Like many young women today, my daughter doesn't carry a purse...

...preferring to use a 'wristlet clutch', instead.

Recently, however, she decided that it might be nice to have a real 'work purse' after all...

...and asked for my help in making one.

Of course, I jumped at the chance to make felt with her...

...and asked her to make some size, shape and color choices.

She settled on a very simple purse with a long strap...

...and began her portion of the project...the layout.

I was surprised to see that she chose orange for the 'non flap' side of the purse...

...but I think it merely coordinated well with the other colors. ;)

After felting and drying, I trimmed one flap to create an inner pocket...

...lining it with riding-gear related fabric from my stash.

I made a long, thin strap for the bag from a piece of grey leather...

...and voila, now she has something that she can actually carry things in!! Grin.

Paisley Tote Bag- Part 2 of 2

Laying out bright orange wool to make a small, flat sheet of felt.

Stitching basic paisley outlines onto the finished felt...

...and filling them in with more machine stitching.

The finished bag front...

...and back.

(Sorry for the washed out colors...the bag is actually brighter and darker than this.)

Peeking inside...

...and the back, again, in close-up.

I made a piece of flat felt in a brighter orange color...

...and traced paisley shapes onto it with a pencil.

I machine stitched around the perimeter of each design with contrasting thread...

...then filled in each shape with a different design.

I cut the paisleys from the sheet of felt...

...and appliqued them onto the finished bag.

You'll notice that the smallest paisley piece...

...acts as a dot for the letter "i" in "Jackie"! :)

It's quite a good-sized bag...

...and it's sturdy enough for a trip to the library or produce market.