Cutie-patootie purse

A while back, I picked up this Japanese-inspired fabric from Hip Stitch.



I saved the one with mushrooms to make a romper for my baby boy. I had a yard of each but didn't know what to do with the others. Being pregnant, I'm not very inspired to sew clothing for me right now. Anything I make will only fit for 12 more weeks, if I don't outgrow it before then.

So I fell back on my old standby: a bag, of course!



This is my tie-top pattern, which I will feature on the Warehouse Fabrics Inc. blog in September. I know that's a long time away, but I'm planning far in advance with the baby coming and everything.



Instead of using a magnetic snap inside of the top of the bag, I decided to do a tab closure with magnetic snap.





Edited to update: I have a tutorial for this bag on the Warehouse Fabrics Inc. blog.

Ashes

Remember this bag I embroidered and made? I made it for Mark to give to a friend to give to his gal.



They took it to their cabin, which burned down. And now the purse is no more. Somehow, that makes me really sad. I never thought about one of my little creations dying a horrible death and existing no more.

A fondness for birds

It seems I've been embroidering birds lately. I'm not sure why. (See the scary "Alouette" post)

One day, I was frolicking about on Flickr when I found this vintage embroidery transfer pattern:



Something about it inspired me, and I decided it would make a nice purse. I always need a more plain handbag, but whenever I'm sewing I'm attracted to the fun fabrics. I got some plain, tan fabric and used a transfer pencil (bought at Michael's) to trace the drawing after printing it on my printer. I then transferred it onto the fabric with the iron and embroidered it.



Next, I dug around in my stash for a lining fabric. I found this perfect one. It brought out all the colors in the embroidery, but it's sort of bold, so I decided to but a band of the plain fabric around the interior top so that the lining fabric isn't distracting from the embroidery and is less visible.



Then I sewed her up.



To do something different than usual, I used square rings on the handles. It gives it a nice touch.

Productive weekend

My latest creations, available on my Web site, or click the pictures.

White cable-knit belt:


White brocade purse with pink flowers and a pink butterfly pin:


Polka-dot tote bag: