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

.

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.

Another Orange Purse

I finished this purse on Sunday night but work and a family crisis reared their time-sucking heads and I only managed to get photos today.

This is the Two-Zip Hipster purse by Erin Erickson of The Dog Under My Desk blog.



There is a zippered pocket on the outside and a top zipper closing the main compartment.

A slide in pocket on the outside (kindle or Ipad size) AND a double pocket (smarty pants phone) on the inside.

I love all the pockets.

The adjustable strap allows you to wear it from your shoulder or cross-body style.
This pattern with incredible detailed instructions was a breeze to sew - even the almost complicated sewing in of the top zipper. Very good instructions. I had zero quibbles about Erin's excellent instructions.

I'm looking at this photo thinking I could embroider something random across the black band. What do you think?

Put a bird on it . . .

My other orange purse utilizing this lovely Ikea bird fabric is here.

Still Sewing

 Yes, you heard me, I am still sewing.

 I'm knee deep in a purse project and it is coming together, rather well.
I'm missing the hardware for the strap but DD picked up something at Bolt today while she was out and about.
I have a graveyard stash of old leather purses and the assorted cast-off hardware but no rectangular slider piece for the strap.
Which just goes to show you - your stash will never ever be big enough . . .
{Currently my stash is threatening to take over parts of three rooms}. 

This is the front. It's got a slip-in pocket big enough for an Ipad or a Kindle as well as a zippered pocket. Originally, as directed on the pattern, the black band on the pocket would have been orange Ikea fabric also, but I decided black would break up all the blatant orange. The lining is a striped ticking that is peeking over the pocket - only because when I was pressing, I liked the look of it.

After picking my meandering stitching out of my strap and then re-stitching it, I decided to go with some black strapping I had in my purse hardware stash instead.

I'm working on the inside lining now and made some changes there as well. I don't think I have ever sewed a pattern where I followed directions to a tee.

I like the ticking in use for the lining. Light enough in color to be able to find stuff in the pockets but sturdy enough to hold up to the rigors of being stuffed full.

 A medium-small purse. Just right for me.
Today I will finish the lining and then await the slider thingy to finish attaching the strap and then it will be mostly finished.
The pattern I am using is a PDF pattern. These type patterns are all the rage because you can download them right to your printer and get started right away. This purse is 32 pages. Some people do this with clothes patterns and I seriously cannot fathom how. It's easy to print on the wrong scale and tape the wrong page to the wrong page creating a pattern mutant.
 
This one was okay. I wanted to try out this pdf pattern 'process'.
Mixed bag as far as I am concerned.

The pattern, Two Zip Hipster, comes from the Dog Under My Desk blog.
The pattern goes together very well and is well-instructed. I've had zero problems with it other than printing out 32 pages.

Saturday Afternoon

These are super quick to make. Reading the SMS blog before work this morning led to making these this afternoon.
Very fast to make and the directions are spot on.

 

These small zippered pouches are to store your ear buds. The key ring can attach to my daughter's book bag. Instead of stuffing her ear buds into her pocket- she can have a dedicated storage spot.
I made two.

The first one used the black checked fabric with the red plaid - but when it was done - it was not my daughter at all. Then I pulled out the orange polka dot fabric and then the blue (turtle) batik and this one is more her style.

 

My local Thriftway had the Turkeys on sale. I think they had the best deal too. Spend $100 and you get the turkey for FREE.  Spending $100 wasn't hard (when the kids were home) - you can see that Eggnog for the boy there. He's old enough now to spice up that eggnog.

My Thriftway has really embraced organic/local/gluten-free/allergy-free foods including the turkey on the right.
I don't tend to react to the turkey. It's more the stuff they inject them with. Probably some soy-based liquid.  The Norbest turkey is for the (polite) family event on Thursday where they will devour the carcass. The Mary's turkey on the right is for my husband and I later.

Instead of a dessert for my gluten-free offering, I am making my Butternut Squash soup recipe for a first course. I can always make Rice Krispy Treats with chocolate on top for an easy dessert that I can handle in small bits and everyone else loves.