14 September, 2016

Travel Purses; Part One



 My daughter is traveling soon to Sweden & Finland. I think Russia too. Instead of looking through the family photos and finding the Swedish relatives and addresses, I chose to make her a purse set.

This first purse is the 2 Zip Hipster sewing pattern by Erin over at Dog Under My Desk Patterns.
I haven't made one since my trip to Japan over a year ago.

At the time, I wanted the bag to be a bit wider and I thought I took good notes but found I could be more specific about writing down which changes I made. A couple of mistakes in cutting were easily fixed because I sewed this in Cork fabric.

If you haven't worked with cork fabric yet, order some. Very easy to cut and sew. The edges don't fray. It's easy to add a short piece on if you made a cutting error.
Cork fabric is also weather resistant & mold resistant. This cork fabric comes from Portugal and is a sustainable natural  product. It's seriously awesome for bag making.
I bought mine here.

I had to pet it for a year before I could bear to cut into it. I have mostly used up my natural color cork and still have some of this sea foam color. I need to order more but it's pricey.



 I found some Paris map fabric last year with dear daughter (the traveler) in mind. Along with it is some world map fabric that coordinates. I hadn't bought the seafoam cork yet so it all added up to serendipitous sewing

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This bag has an outside zippered pocket and behind that a slip pocket - perfect for traveling. It also has a zippered pocket inside - the pattern only calls for a slip pocket but I add a zippered one inside because it's more secure.
The top zips shut easily with a big purse zipper and the strap can be worn over the shoulder or cross-body.

In fact, I didn't have enough natural cork for the strap and I didn't want a seafoam color strap, so I robbed the strap off my Japan bag ( which I had robbed from a garage sale bag). Never say I am not into recycling.





Yesterday, I received some small tassels - God bless Daiso - from Janine in Japan. They are too short for my bag. However, Kyle's turquoise tassel is too big. Need to make one. Then this bag will be done.



Except, I'm making two more bags as a set. The coin purse which attaches to the inside dangly strap (airplane ribbon) and a passport wallet.
I have the coin purse done to blog about another day. Need to cut out the passport wallet tomorrow before work.

Does anyone else hide from their trip photos? I probably took 1600 photos when hubs and I went to Sweden and Finland 4 years ago (Summer posts in 2012). I was supposed to put the family ones in a photo album and send to the 2nd cousins in Mariehamn (
Åland Islands between Sweden & Finland).
Did I? ..ahem...shhhh...I'm sewing.

If I can get them printed, I could send them with dd and save on postage.

Don't even talk to me about  my Japan photos.







And here's a gratuitous photo of my work apron. Pencil Girl sewed a front panel for me as a birthday gift. How sweet is that?

Of course, it will be ripped to shreds in a few months (unsafe equipment).
Don't look too close - this is the guys restroom - it looks marginally better than the gals bathroom.

8 comments:

  1. That's an awesome bag - the "fix" looks more like a design decision, the fabrics are great, and the hardware adds just the right amount of bling - I have some metal zippers downstairs but I don't think they look as nice as yours :D

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    1. Stash zippers: 1 small brown nylon zip for inside pocket. 1 big metal zip for front pocket is another brown shade. Top closing zip is a big #5 nylon separating jacket zip with double pulls in a weird shade of puce. Not matchy-matchy.

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  2. Loving the cork fabric in both colours. Makes a wonderful bag!!! Will have to see if we can get it over here.

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    Replies
    1. I thought I read someone in Australia was stocking cork. Inquire of those bag ladies down under.

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  3. What a good mama you are! Is it a light bag for walking all over? That's great that your daughter will be traveling.. hope she has a friend going with her. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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    Replies
    1. She travels alone and makes friends as she goes. She also has friends to stay with.
      Bag isn't as light as ripstop, but it isn't as heavy as pendleton.

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  4. Love the bag - great use of the map fabric!

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  5. Hi Kathy! Wow, this bag is fantastic! I'm happy for your daughter to travel to Finland and Sweden. I shall go to see my home country also in October. I'm amazed about the cork fabric and have to see more about that! Beautiful lining too! x Teje

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