Felted Purse

I decided I wanted to try and make a felted purse, every felted purse I had ever seen was knitted and my knitting is just so-so, I am a much better crocheter. So I decided to see if I could make a crocheted felted purse. Here is the purse and straps before washing. It was probably 16" across and 18" tall.

Here it is right out of the washing machine, I stuffed a towel in it to help shape it while it dried. It smelled like a wet dog so I also Febreezed it. I stretched the straps out and clamped them onto my table to straighten them out. Now it has shrunk down to about 10" wide and the widest point and 12" tall.

I put a simple cotton lining in it, no pockets or anything.

I like it, it's kinda homely but charming at the same time. I'm glad I decided to add the eyelash yarn at the top, it gives it even more of a rustic look (or something).

My "Had a Dream" purse

Here is a pic of my almost finished purse, I got frustrated with it and moved on to a new one, as you can see in the post just below this post. I just can't seem to find a good balance between too stiff and too soft. Eventually I hope to get it right.

Another purse

So I got my other purse almost finished and then I decided I made some mistakes when constructing it and I got frustrated with it and so I went for attempt #2, back up to JoAnn's for more supplies.

Instead of using upholstery fabric, I just went for plain old cotton, but to make it have more body I quilted it. I just used two layers of Warm & Natural and drew lines every 1/2" with disappearing ink.

Here it is all filled up, I have four inside pockets and my iPad fits perfectly in the middle.

Here it is all zipped up.

I put feet on the bottom and decided to add my initials to the front pocket.

All done, but I am still not completely satisfied with my design, I have a few more flaws to work out in the coming purses.

I had a dream.....

I have been wanting to make a new purse and I dreamed up a pattern for it the other night. I went to JoAnn's today and found the materials I will need to make it. Luckily the Home Decor fabrics are on sale right now for 40% off, they make the best purse fabrics because they have so much body, I also bought a piece of wood for the bottom of my bag for extra support and some purse feet. I am going to attempt to sew "faux leather" (vinyl) on the bottom of my bag as well, I found a remnant for really cheap. Stay tuned for updates, hopefully it will turn out like what I have envisioned.

Sewing Machine Cover

Well I actually got something done today, I sewed up my sewing machine cover. I used the embroidery that I digitized earlier in the week. I just used a bunch of my scrap fabric to make it.

I figured out approximately how big a piece of fabric I would need to make it and I made a little scrappy quilt, then washed it and dried it and then cut out my pieces.

I got to use a few of my new toys that I recently bought at the Sew Expo, the Curvemaster foot and my Simplicity bias binding machine. I love the Curvemaster, sewing the curve on this was a piece of cake and I used the bias maker for finishing off the bottom.

Next I need to make one for my serger and my embroidery machine.

Dress for Wedding

I am going to a wedding on Saturday for Craig's cousin Taryn, and I decided to make myself a dress to wear. I took a day off of work today and got busy sewing.

Here it is from the side, I added a few embelishments that weren't part of the original pattern, like the buttons on the sleeves and the embroidery.

I just tried it on, and I knew it would fit because my dress form and I are exactly the same size, well maybe I have a few pounds on her. I love to sew for myself though because I can alter the pattern and make it fit perfectly.

I haven't decided if I want to add more embroidery around the bottom, I don't want it to look over done, I am going to add some swarovsky crystals to it though, but that will be tomorrow nights project.

2009 Sewing & Stitchery Expo Contest

The Sew Expo is coming up in a couple of weeks in Puyallup, WA and I decided to enter a contest they are having. The only rule was to use this embroidery design that they have as a free download and send them a picture of the finished product using the design. I decided to use it to make a new cover for my Smart Bag. The winners will send their item in to be displayed at the expo and everyone who enters gets a prize and they will have a slide show of all the entries at the expo. Mostly I just wanted the freebie prize and I can also use and show off my purse at the expo.

Wearing new scrub top!

Here I am in my new scrub top, ready for work. You may also notice that I cut my hair some more, I decided to have bangs. If I don't stop cutting it, I will be bald by next month, but I just can't help myself.

New Scrub Top

I finally got a scrub top made after several attempts. I didn't like the first one at all using a store bought pattern, it was too big and it hung funny on me, so I scrapped that one, the second one was my attempt at making my own pattern, and it didn't get much past the cutting out part before I decided that it just wouldn't work. The third one I used MPD (my pattern designer), which is a program where you can design your own clothes using your unique measurements, all was going well until I tried to attach piping on it and it kept bunching up and I just got frustrated with it, so along came attempt number four. Using MPD, I chose an empire waist blouse with elegent darts on the sides, if i had to do it over again, I would have added waist darts as well, but all and all I am happy with this one. I am going to wear it to work tomorrow and hopefully I will now be motivated to make more.