Purrrrse Project
So I am not one of those girls who change purses often. In fact, I usually use the same purse until it can no longer be used for fear of it falling apart in public. My husband had gotten me 2 very nice purses from our local Harley store which I used for over a year a piece. Then I bought my current one at Goodwill because it has a fall like color scheme and leaves on it. But I also imagined making my own purse one day, which is why I purchased a few different purse patterns on some $.99 sale. I honestly figured I could give them away if I ever made one, unless I happened to absolutely love it. I kind of want to try my hand at sewing just about one of everything. I am still working with mostly remnants, as I am still broke as a joke and I have plenty of fabric to work with. So I chose a purse pattern and went a diggin for some purse-y type fabric. The pattern today was a very cute McCalls 6977 bow purse.
I wanted to make pattern B, the tan purse with the green lined bow. The others are cute, too, but I liked that one a lot. Its a little smaller than my everyday purse, but it might be nice for special occasions. I will also have more experience with purse making, so win/win! So I got to cutting out my pieces and then I found my fabric, this white polka dots on white background. It was a remnant that I honestly thought would look different once I got it home and unrolled it. I thought I was looking at the wrong side of the fabric, as that is how they are usually rolled.
No worries, though. I liked it for this purse because it was a thicker material, but don't ask me which one because remnants rarely say. So now I had to decide on the bow itself. I wanted to make it like the pic, a white bow lined in something cute, but I didn't have quite enough white left unless I sewed a few pieces together. I ended up making the bow the same as the purse with a gray bow knot to match the straps. I don't know why, because when I started this I had decided on a different colored bow, but when I went to finish it months later, I saw white bow pieces in there. Not sure when I decided that, but I ran with it. I did not want to bother with making the lining for the bow and I could have used bias tape now that I have so much of it, but I just kind of wanted this finished, so I omitted the bow lining. After I made the bow and the bow straps, I attached it to the bag.
Then I kept on chugging. The only part I had troubles with was when you smush the bottom part to make the bottom kind of squared looking. For some reason, I kept reading that part of the pattern and not getting what they were trying to say. Then it just hit me and I was able to move along. The lining itself was kind of a bitch. It was a dark red (Don't ask... White and gray purse with dark red lining. Who knows what I was thinking at the time...) satin-y type of fabric, almost like a lining fabric. The stupid stuff kept getting caught in the machine like it was too thin. I kept having to stop and start sewing a good distance away from the ends because it would just pull my fabric through the throat plate. I figured it was time for a new needle even though I was going to wait until I had finished this project to change it. So I changed the needle and it seemed to help a little. Maybe next time I will just toss some stabilizer onto the ends to help stop it from doing that. Other than that, it was a pretty easy project. I omitted the magnetic snaps on the ends of the purse for a more open look and I was going to add little feet onto the bottom to help it stay off the floor, but I decided against it at the last minute. I am going to scotch gard the hell out of it before using it since it is stark white and prone to dirt.
I am not really sure why I dropped the ball on this one. Maybe I had bought a new pattern and got distracted (ooh! something shiny!!) and forgot all about it. But it has been sitting on my sewing table taking up space and its high time to clean off my table as much as possible. And I found that while I was sewing this, I felt better about sewing in general. My room is getting sort of organized, so when I sit down to sew its like my mind knows that it is a little cleaner in there. Most of my notions are tucked away in those former fabric drawers, so I can't even see the organization whilst working, but my mind just knows. I like it! Just think when I will have an actual room for sewing and it will be all organized and spread out. I am excited imagining breezing through a pattern because everything is in its place and I can move from one step to another with ease. That day is getting closer and closer! :-D
I wanted to make pattern B, the tan purse with the green lined bow. The others are cute, too, but I liked that one a lot. Its a little smaller than my everyday purse, but it might be nice for special occasions. I will also have more experience with purse making, so win/win! So I got to cutting out my pieces and then I found my fabric, this white polka dots on white background. It was a remnant that I honestly thought would look different once I got it home and unrolled it. I thought I was looking at the wrong side of the fabric, as that is how they are usually rolled.
No worries, though. I liked it for this purse because it was a thicker material, but don't ask me which one because remnants rarely say. So now I had to decide on the bow itself. I wanted to make it like the pic, a white bow lined in something cute, but I didn't have quite enough white left unless I sewed a few pieces together. I ended up making the bow the same as the purse with a gray bow knot to match the straps. I don't know why, because when I started this I had decided on a different colored bow, but when I went to finish it months later, I saw white bow pieces in there. Not sure when I decided that, but I ran with it. I did not want to bother with making the lining for the bow and I could have used bias tape now that I have so much of it, but I just kind of wanted this finished, so I omitted the bow lining. After I made the bow and the bow straps, I attached it to the bag.
Then I kept on chugging. The only part I had troubles with was when you smush the bottom part to make the bottom kind of squared looking. For some reason, I kept reading that part of the pattern and not getting what they were trying to say. Then it just hit me and I was able to move along. The lining itself was kind of a bitch. It was a dark red (Don't ask... White and gray purse with dark red lining. Who knows what I was thinking at the time...) satin-y type of fabric, almost like a lining fabric. The stupid stuff kept getting caught in the machine like it was too thin. I kept having to stop and start sewing a good distance away from the ends because it would just pull my fabric through the throat plate. I figured it was time for a new needle even though I was going to wait until I had finished this project to change it. So I changed the needle and it seemed to help a little. Maybe next time I will just toss some stabilizer onto the ends to help stop it from doing that. Other than that, it was a pretty easy project. I omitted the magnetic snaps on the ends of the purse for a more open look and I was going to add little feet onto the bottom to help it stay off the floor, but I decided against it at the last minute. I am going to scotch gard the hell out of it before using it since it is stark white and prone to dirt.
I am not really sure why I dropped the ball on this one. Maybe I had bought a new pattern and got distracted (ooh! something shiny!!) and forgot all about it. But it has been sitting on my sewing table taking up space and its high time to clean off my table as much as possible. And I found that while I was sewing this, I felt better about sewing in general. My room is getting sort of organized, so when I sit down to sew its like my mind knows that it is a little cleaner in there. Most of my notions are tucked away in those former fabric drawers, so I can't even see the organization whilst working, but my mind just knows. I like it! Just think when I will have an actual room for sewing and it will be all organized and spread out. I am excited imagining breezing through a pattern because everything is in its place and I can move from one step to another with ease. That day is getting closer and closer! :-D
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