Sabra's Christmas Present from Plastic Canvas UFO

In moving Grandma Vivian this past fall, numerous of her UFOs saw the light of day for the first time in years.  One of our "finds" was a bag of 7 completed pieces of needlepoint plastic canvas; clearly a tote bag that had never been assembled.  Now wouldn't a group gift from Grandma, Larry & me make a terrific gift for Sabra?  She does so much for Dad, driving him around and looking out for him in general as his fogginess increases.

I explained to Larry that lashing plastic canvas with yarn was exactly the same thing as lashing leather with lacing and put him to work (because I really hate messing with plastic canvas.)  I showed him how to get the handles positioned correctly and explained that, yes, you do have to lash all the edges or it looks icky.

While he got to work on the lashing, I added one set of missing antennas to the blue butterfly.  I also thought that some feet would make it extra special, and help keep the tote clean too.  In the stash of buttons I gleaned from cleaning out Larry's Dad's house, was a perfect match of four shank buttons.  I sewed them to the base piece and wound them tightly with the lashing yarn until they stood up nice and straight.

When Larry was done I added some yellow taffeta from my stash for the lining.  I auditioned several fabrics and almost went with a dark blue that looked very nice, but I decided to go with yellow in the end. The light color will make it much easier for Sabra to find her keys & sunglasses, and I've noticed that she spends an inordinate amount of time fumbling for things at the bottom of her purse.

We had a Christmas party at Dad's house on Sunday before Christmas, and Larry, Grandma and I gave the tote bag to Sabra then.  She was absolutely thrilled with it.  It was great to give her a gift from all three of us and I loved seeing another completed UFO, even if it wasn't one of my own.

September (yes September) Finish

Fortunately Kris at Tagalong Teddies believed me that I REALLY DID finish something in September. I made this purse from the "Got Pockets?" pattern before we went on vacation in Scottsdale.

I really wanted to make a purse using the beautiful Minnesota batik fabric that my brother-in-law bought for my birthday last year ALL BY HIMSELF. I should have looked more carefully at the pattern because after I got started I realized that it had 42 (yes, 42) pattern pieces. Yikes! I got them all cut out and labeled:

And got the piles all sorted and numbered:

And before too long I had it all assembled. It really does have LOTS of nice pockets.

With lots of cool zippers.

It went together quickly; however, I followed the pattern a little TOO closely, and the pattern has a definite error in one of the pictures. My purse is "unique" in that the straps go across the body of the purse, instead of along each side. Sigh. This makes it impossible to shift up over your shoulder. That's what I get for following the pattern uncritically. I should know better by now!

Now I'm on the lookout for some nice leather straps. I'll cut off the existing handles, leaving tabs, then attach the leather straps the "correct" way.

Silk Handbag Complete - First Finish of the Year

I had never made a handbag before, so I'm really pleased with how the Silk Adaptations "Character" bag turned out, even though it's quite a bit smaller than I thought it would be. In the interests of "Finished is better than perfect" I decided to purchase the handles locally instead of sending off for them.

At first I simply sewed the tabs to the purse, but whenever the handles flopped down, the tab seams were exposed. I didn't like, that so I went to The Artful Bead and found these cool square beads.
They only had six beads left and I bought them all, four for the handles and two for the zipper tabs. They were a major pain to sew on, especially below the handles. I had to scotch tape them in place, then sew through the tape - it took me the whole Cowboys game for 4 beads!

They were worth the trouble though, because now when the handles flop over, the seams are completely hidden. 8-) I'm less certain about the zipper tabs. They are pretty enough, but they seem to give the overall bag a less sophisticated look. I'm planning to give the bag as a gift to my Mom. Being a redhead, she wears LOTS of autumn colors, and her favorite winter coat matches the orange in the purse. Her tastes are very sophisticated, so I'm not sure about the zipper tabs. (It might not be an issue for long anyway. The tabs are really more decorative than ruggedly functional, one harsh yank and we won't have anything to worry about anymore. lol)

Anyone in our home would see that this lining matches the silk pillows in the den. 8-) It's a nice sturdy woven silk (that didn't want to ease nicely AT ALL into the corners like a more slippery fabric) but should be much more durable. I also used leftover silk from the front of the pillows because it coordinated so well, and added more neutrality to the vibrant mix of orange and purples. The purse is sitting on what's left of that silk. I love being able to use fabric that I've squirreled away for YEARS on totally new projects. 8-)

Here is the side view.

And here is the bottom. Yes there really are patches EVERYWHERE. lol It feels good to have it done!

Silk Adaptation Character - My First Handbag

On the last day of the Las Vegas Shop Hop I bought a handbag pattern called Silk Adaptation Character along with a packet of silks called Radiant to complete the bag. Naturally I started cutting out the silks after I read the instructions, but before...

I read the list of stuff needed to complete the bag. (What the heck is fusible fleece anyway?) I pressed on regardless, and found a "pleasing" arrangement of squares (per instructions) and sewed them together. This silk was a DREAM to sew with. They had you fuse interfacing to the back of the silk before it is cut or sewn, so it is very easy to handle. They also specify 3/8" seams, which seemed HUGE to this quilter, but the silk ravels easily, so it's a good idea. I had forgotten how well fabric moves through the machine using a full-sized foot. I DID have to constantly refer back to my camera to keep the colors in the correct order, but I finally got it all together.

I managed to get everything pressed correctly so the seams would meld, and all my seams match up well- a first for me. I also managed to find the fusible fleece at JoAnn's. Now I just need to decide on a handle style, some narrow cording for "doodling", a zipper, and narrow ribbon for a zipper pull. No worries. lol