Flower Power Purse

This is the third purse for my friend, Jen.  This one is another imitation of one she found online from Fossil. 

Here is the original inspiration...

Another Andrea Bag

Here is another Andrea bag sent out as a custom order for Christmas.  I really like this fabric combination. :)

Gas bag copy cat

I saw this beautiful bag on another blog and just had to see if I could make one.  I had been planning to make a bag with a zipper top for my friend, Kate, so this fit the bill perfectly.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  I hope Kate is enjoying using it in Hawaii!

Purse for my sister

My sister requested a new, small purse, so I whipped this up for her in August and gave it to her when she was back visiting my parents.

But, the highlight of the trip was that she found my bag of wool that I had been carding on the way there to have ready for my new spinning wheel, and decided the rolags looked like dreads. Then, the next day, my dad found them and held one up as if it was a mustache!  Unfortunately, I missed getting a picture of that.  Neither one of them knew that the other had done that.  I guess I know where she gets her sense of humor!

Andrea Bag for me!

Remember the Andrea bag?

 And then I tried to make it into a messenger style for myself...

Well, I finally made the original style Andrea bag for myself!  Actually, I made it before I went on a trip to see Andrea and another friend, Ann, in Boston the first weekend in June.  Andrea and I toured Boston with our Andrea bags!   We had a great time and the bag was perfect for walking around town all day.  I could bring everything I needed for the day, but it never got too heavy!

The Andrea bags even made it to Sam Adams Brewery!

You might recognize the fabric...I used it once for a Jen bag...and I wouldn't be afraid to use it again!  I love this print!

Copycat bag

Quite some time ago Jen (of the Jen bag) asked me to try to copy the red bag below from Anthrpologie. It took forever, but I finally finished a blue imitation bag! Mine doesn't have a zipper closure on the top, but otherwise I don't think it is too far off - especially since this picture is all I had to go off of!

The flowers were the most time consuming, but also the most fun part. The whole thing probably took about 12 hours of actual construction time. There were several other hours put into getting the pattern right and testing it out on scrap fabric. I was having a little trouble with my machine towards the end, so that slowed me down (I think its timing is off again). If I were to do this again, I'm sure I could shave some time off, but probably not much more than an hour or two. So, I don't plan to duplicate this any time soon. I'm not ruling it out just yet, but I need to take a break before I think about that!

Andrea Bag - Messenger Style

Back in October/November I attempted to modify the Andrea Bag below into a messenger style bag.

Several people had suggested this and I really wanted a bag that was big enough to put a folder or pad of paper in for when I go to conferences or at work, etc.  So, I enlarged the bag and changed from 2 straps in front and back to one side-to-side strap.

Just looking at it like this, I am fairly pleased with it.  I love the fabric on the inside and the belt/bow.  But, when I started using it I realized that I really was not happy with it.  I think moving the handle to the side made it lose some of it's shape.  It is too flat across the top.  But even worse, I made it too wide but not deep enough, so it still doesn't really hold papers or folders very well, and it is so wide that I fell like my things might just fall out.  Also, you might be able to see in the bottom picture, that by placing the handle on the sides, it pulls the two sides together when you actually use it and the top bunches up because of that.

Overall, I am considering this a good design learning experience.  I eventually want to take a second attempt at this and will probably go back to the original handle style, but just make it a little bigger.  I might also consider going with the side strap but changing the shape so that the top naturally is narrower to avoid the bunching that it does now.  Oh, and I'll use a sturdier interfacing.  This bag just feels flimsy.  Hopefully I'll have better luck next time!

Bridesmaid Jen bag #5 - All Done!

This one is for a junior bridesmaid.  See how it is a little smaller than the others?  I was told she loves pink and butterflies so I put butterflies on the inside.  That way it looks like all of the others from the outside, but has a little surprise on the inside!

What a nice collection of bags!  I hope that the bridesmaids all enjoy them!

Bridesmaid Jen bag #4

This is the 4th bag in the set of 5 I am making.  It has a very different color theme than the others, but I like it. I am always surprised at how much more I like it when it is all put together!

Bridesmaid Jen bag #3

The third of 5 bridesmaid bags is done!  Hopefully, the last two will be done by the end of this weekend!  I really like this one.  The Alexander Henry fabric on the outside is great, the top is sort of shiny, and I love the button.  I think it ties it all together!

Andrea Bag

I designed this bag for my friend (and loyal blog commenter) Andrea.  It has been really difficult keeping it a secret until I could give it to her!  I am really pleased with it.  I showed it off at work this week and got some good ideas from others.  I am going to make a variation with one longer handle side to side and a little bigger body to be more of a messenger-style bag than a purse.  I already have the fabric and can't wait to try it out!

Another Jen Bag

This is the second of the set of 5 I am working on for Bridesmaid gifts for a customer.

Handles has handles

I posted back in February about this wool I got at a local woolen mill and asked for ideas for handles.

Laura suggested wooden handles. Well, I finally bought some wooden handles and made it into a bag.

I really like the look of the wood and wool together.  Plus, the round handles and squareness of the bag seem to work well together.  I had a really hard time deciding how to attach the handles and tried a different method first.  I should have taken pictures of it that way - it looked horrible!  This second approach worked much better.  I didn't put in any pockets, though, and I wish I would have because stuff just gets lost inside of it!  I can't decide if I want to keep it for myself, put it up for sale in my Etsy shop, or just give it away.  I'll just have to think about it for a while, I guess.

Remember the Jen bag?

I previously posted about the Jen bag: 

 and 

Well, someone contacted me through Etsy and asked me to make 5 of them for her bridesmaid gifts.  I am really excited about it!  We have picked out the fabric for all of them, and here is the first one!

 I am a little bit in love with this one.  Now I want to make one for myself!  It has a zipper pocket and patch pocket inside and closes with a magnetic snap.

And, I now have logo tags:

I got these on Etsy from Priya Creations.  I feel so professional!

Chickadee purse plus clutch

I finally finished the Chickadee purse that someone ordered to give as a gift. It is the same as the prototype except that I added some iron on interfacing to the body of the purse to give it more structure. I also decided to add a matching clutch. It closes with a button and elastic loop (hair tie).

I also made some hang tags and tied one on with ribbon.

And, some new packaging!

Chickadee purse

I usually just name my purses after the person they were made for. But, this one is a surprise and just in case, I decided I better come up with another name. Chickadees are kind of black and white like this purse so...

Well actually, this exact purse is not for someone else, it is for me. Every time I come up with a new design I have to try it out first to make sure it comes out how I am envisioning it. The second time is always better because I figure out what I should do to make it better. So, I will be beta testing this one.

This time I used rings to connect the handle.

It is lined with satin, has a magnetic snap closure and a decorative silver button.