I signed up for the March Birthday Swap on Craftster. You post a list of five crafted goodies you want, plus a list of supplies you want, plus a list of nifty extras you'd like. I think the budget was 20 bucks or something. I picked a girl in New Zealand who said she'd love a new day-purse that wasn't so huge as to eat her stuff and leave her digging for things all the time. I'd never made a purse before, but the Buttercup Bag by MadeByRae has been all over the net lately and I thought it would be a good pattern to start with.
I KNEW I'd have to do a trial run, because I always mess something up, and besides that I had some changes I wanted to make to the pattern. I added a bottom piece to make it 3-dimensional, plus the lining has the same top-piece as the outside. Gotta love messing up the pleating... I just ended up putting two pleats in the middle. AFTER the purse was done, I realized "aw nuts, the pleat marks are supposed to MEET!"
The purse itself is made from a quilting cotton leftover from making a corset a few years ago. It has a beige ground with pink cherries, white cherry blossoms and green leaves. The lining is the lightweight interfacing I had flatlined to the corset pieces for strength/stability. It's also got about 3 yards of vintage pink piping on it (I bought part of a late-sewer's trimmings stash), the very last of the beige cotton eyelet lace from the corset project, and a pink vintage button (from a different late-sewer's stash).
I KNEW I'd have to do a trial run, because I always mess something up, and besides that I had some changes I wanted to make to the pattern. I added a bottom piece to make it 3-dimensional, plus the lining has the same top-piece as the outside. Gotta love messing up the pleating... I just ended up putting two pleats in the middle. AFTER the purse was done, I realized "aw nuts, the pleat marks are supposed to MEET!"
The purse itself is made from a quilting cotton leftover from making a corset a few years ago. It has a beige ground with pink cherries, white cherry blossoms and green leaves. The lining is the lightweight interfacing I had flatlined to the corset pieces for strength/stability. It's also got about 3 yards of vintage pink piping on it (I bought part of a late-sewer's trimmings stash), the very last of the beige cotton eyelet lace from the corset project, and a pink vintage button (from a different late-sewer's stash).
*ALL PIX ARE CLICKABLE THUMBS! YAY!*
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For the NZ girl, I basically made the exact same bag except with a 32 inch strap because she's pretty tall. I used a vintage cotton (looks 70s to me) that I got at a rummage sale with plant bits and geometric stuff (and some metallic print, too!), scrap brown twill, blue vintage piping, a brown/orange vintage button, and the lining is leftover from a cotton short kimono for my boyfriend to wear with his hakama (japanese pleated pants). I also interfaced the bottom piece of her bag, so it holds it's shape a bit better.
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I'm pretty proud of myself :D Neither is perfect by any measure, but I think I did alright for my first ever purses. I'd like to give magnetic clasps a try, though, because buttonholes are notoriously difficult for me.
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I also made a little matching pouch for the brown purse, but because the buttonhole on the purse killed my sewing machine (not permanently, I fixed it), it didn't make it in the package to New Zealand. Dunno what I'll do with it, other than send it to New Zealand :P It's inspired by the Buttercup Bag, drafted by me and made out of the same mats as the purse. It closes with hook-and-loop tape (velcro is a brand name :P like calling all facial-tissue kleenex, nyar).
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