Travel Purses; Passport Wallet Finished

I've got another post planned on this trio of travel  purses with all the pattern info and my hacks in one place. For right now, it's getting mailed today up to dear daughter for her upcoming trip to Sweden and Finland.

I am still hiding from my photos as she will be visiting some of the relatives there as well as possibly one of my friends who is visiting ME tomorrow! 

The travel set consists of a messenger style bag, a coin purse, and a passport wallet.

The Messenger style bag is sewn without the flap but with a recessed zipper to keep items secure while in strange places. It also contains a zippered pocket inside for extra security. The two outside pockets  stack on the front - one zippered, one a slip pocket.

The coin purse was my own design but loosely based on some small bags sewn during BagIt, hosted by ElmStreetQuilts last November. BagIt for 2016 has already started and will go on for three months this year.

The passport wallet is from a new-to-me pattern but was seriously hacked by me. I downsized the wallet to 80% of original. I added some credit card pockets inside and I also added the alternative pocket option. It also fits my IPhone6. I'm showing it with my old android which is a bit smaller.

I like the concept of this wallet but it gave me 2am nightmares trying to figure out the next step. Now that I've sewn it, I love the concept. You make what type pockets you want, then cut the outside and lining so those pockets will fit inside. Definitely my style of sew as you go.  I'll be blogging more about the pattern difficulties later.

On the main bag, I like the length of the tassel but it was a trial one out of thinner fabric. I may re-do the tassel but my brain says it's done.

I don't know if dd will want to carry all these as she usually travels via small backpack. I think she will like the passport wallet as I like to have my drivers license/ID and passport in the same place and readily available for airport screeners. She probably won't need to pull it out too often. In Japan, I felt like I was showing my passport about five times a day.

In other good news, one of my cousins saw the bigger bag/purse and ordered one exactly like it for herself. Thank you for helping to pay for new cork fabric addiction.

Travel Purses: Coin Purse

 I sewed this coin purse to attach to my daughter's 2 zip hipster bag. For this little purse, I brought out the lining fabrics. On this side, you can see Alaska - where she currently lives.

On the opposite side is a street map of Paris with the Eiffel Tower. DD traveled there a couple of years ago along when visiting Budapest, Germany and England.

 Cute and tiny. This coin purse is about 5 1/2  inches wide by 4 inches tall. On the front is a piece of vinyl to easily see which coins you have 'collected'.
 
I even found her some Swedish (Sverige) coins as well as my paltry collection of Euro coins and her more substantial stash. We can't spend Euros here in Oregon  - so take them back.

The bling includes a Eiffel Tower frippery (Daiso in Japan! Yay!) and a lace zipper.
 There are a couple of scraps of cork to pull the set together.

I am still hiding from those photos and getting addresses for DD.
Sewing is sew much more fun.



Part one of Travel Purses is here.

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.

Pendleton 2ZH

I started this bag - the Two Zip Hipster last weekend.  This is designed by Erin of Dog Under My Desk (DUMD) and features a cross-body strap and a recessed zipper.
I made one before out of Orange Ikea fabric:



On my first one, I followed the directions with only one minor change. This time, I changed a lot.
First off, I wanted to use Pendleton wool fabric and the purse needed to be a tad wider. Having only 1/2 yard of this turquoise and brown Pendleton print meant I had to be creative in the cutting layout.
I found a great thin suede to use as an accent piece (faux piping) and as trim on the front pocket.
Like the first time, I ironed the pocket lining to peek above the edge
 
Other people have enlarged the pattern 110% but not me. I only wanted the width to be larger. The depth of the bag was just about perfect. That meant I had to study all the pattern pieces to make sure I was adding the same amount to each abutting piece. I added just less than an inch to the width.

I want this tassel on my zipper but I'm not sure how to attach it. I need me some jewelry findings. I'll go ask creative girl tomorrow. I'm sure it involves a bead header cap, a jump ring, some glue . . .

I had a thrifted cross body strap that matched well enough - so I had to change the connecting hardware.      {...but this meant I did not have to sew a 60" strap}.

Purse hardware is very spendy. I  find purses that don't look great at garage sales and cut off the metal hardware - usually a buck in my neck of the woods. The hardware on this purse could easily be $15-20 at the fabric store.

 My limited fabric meant I had to piece the front piece. Because it's hidden by then front zip pocket, no big deal - just measure against the pattern piece to make sure the end result is the correct size

I think I will hand stitch that label on more securely, or not.

Love how the recessed zip looks!

 I wanted a two-way zip, based on my last 2ZH, but I think that was because that purse was a tad narrow in width. It's nice, but it meant I had to mentally do my zipper installation a teeny  bit different.

I just received these metal zipper ends from Emmaline Bags. Best bling ever!
Looks so much less home-sewn.

Turned inside out. I added the long strappy thing to hold a double sided coin purse (not made).
I read some advice on traveling in Japan about their coinage. Some coins are best to get rid of right away, and to separate your change as you receive it so you can move it on.

***Side note: I heard the best joke at work today!
When does it rain money?
Whenever there's a change in the weather.

 I, of course, had to add an inside zip pocket for secure storage. And lined it with some airplanes  ;-)      The white background is easier to see things inside a purse.

 The opposite side holds a standard (with pattern) slip pocket. I decorated it with my trimmings.

I have two weeks to go before my trip. Tomorrow I'm shopping for a lightweight, but warm rain jacket as well as other assorted travel doodads.

I had wanted to sew a pendleton carry-on but that's too ambitious for my limited time. I can board with a carry-on and one personal item. In the ways of air travel, this purse will be in my giant black airplane purse.

I am very happy with how this turned out,  even if my seam ripper had to rip out some stupidity occasionally.


I first used this pendleton fabric on this big shopping tote bag:




***April 2015 update:
This worked terrific on Japan trip. I received many compliments.
The two-way zip actually worked very well. Just the right height for my water bottle, sometimes the bottle placement meant using one zipper pull-tab or the other. I think I'm on a mission to put two-way zips in all my bags from now on.
It was easy to manage multiple showings of passport wallet, change purse (Lots of japanese coinage!) and regular wallet. Japan is very cash-based, unlike USA & Europe.
This bag had the right amount of pockets for traveling.

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.