New Fall Purse

Happy Fall!  I made myself a new purse to celebrate the changing leaves and cooler weather.  Rae of Made by Rae posted a really cute owl bag that she made using her Lickety Split pattern with some modifications.  I loved what she came up with and had to make one of my very own.  I started this last week and officially finished it today.  (I should add that the pattern is simple; the only reason it took me so long is that I couldn't decide on what to use for the closure and I was being lazy about finishing the top-stitching.)  I love all the pockets!  It has 4!

  Here's my Happy New Fall Purse!

 

Instead of a button and loop for the closure, I used a fabric flower and loop!  I used the Rolled Rose tutorial over at Portabellopixie to make the fabric flower.

I love my new purse!  I  love this time of year.  :-)
Thanks for looking!
~Christina

Fancy Lickety-Split Birthday Presents

I had to wait until this past weekend was over to post these bags, because the were birthday presents! These are both made with Made by Rae's Lickety Split bag pattern. This first one was made for my friend Shannon. I was trying for a patch-work/hippie look with this bag. I used 8 fat quarters for this bag that I got from Wal-mart. I knew right away that I wanted to use the red batik material. I'm pleased with the result.

Here's a pic of the fabric laid out as I was trying to figure out which fabrics to pair up:

And here's the final bag, both views because it's reversible!:

Here's my final birthday bag for this month. This one was for my mom! After I made my first one I was showing it to my sister, she came over and started looking in to see how may pockets it had. She seemed to really like it. I knew that I had to make her one. I found the fabric at Jo-Ann's.

Here's both views of the bag:

Here's a close up of the pockets and the buttons I found in my Grandma's collection of buttons:

I have another project to post soon. Maybe tonight if my internet doesn't hate me. :-) Thanks for looking!!

Some Fancy Finished Bags

It's been snowing like crazy here. The third snow storm of February hit today. I finished up two projects in the past few days. The first bag is another Lickety Split bag (again pattern created by Made by Rae). The flap and buttons are not part of the original pattern. This is one is made from the pretty fabric I bought last week at Joann's when I was finally able to get out after the second snow storm. I really love this fabric! I gave this one to my sister-in-law Katie for her birthday. I was tempted to keep it for myself! Did I mention I really love this fabric?

Here's one side:

and here is the reverse:

In the last post I posted some progress show of the Everything Tote I was working on. I finished it this evening. I love it! It's so big and roomy! The pattern comes from Weekend Sewing: More Than 40 Projects and Ideas for Inspired Stitching by Heather Ross.

 

The pattern suggested that canvas or denim be used for the outer fabric. I used corderoy because I had some. I had to modify the pattern a bit because of the added bulk. The "bias tape" style binding/straps are supposed 4 layers thick like regular bias tape, but mine ended up being 3 layers thick. It's double in the front, like bias tape, but when I folded it over the top of the bag, I left the strip flat against the lined, and not folded up. I hope makes sense. I should have taken pictures of this process. Maybe next time. Anyways, since I did it this way, I only broke one needle. Yay! Oh, I also stitched the front and back straps together before attaching them to the bag so I wouldn't have to do any hand stitching.

I also did some applique on the front of the bag. It's a pretty, hippy flower. I was going to hand stitch it, but I ended up using a small zig-zag stitch. I'm happy with the results.

Here's my new Everything Tote:

Here's the nice roomy inside:Here's a close-up of the pocket. I used a fancy decorative stitch on my machine:

Here's a picture of me holding it like in the book:

Fancy Lickety-Split bag

Here it is!! My first buttonhole!! I used my buttonhole foot for the first time and I think it turned out pretty good!

A buttonhole needs a button. Well, this one got 2! The bag I made is reversible!

These awesome buttons are attached to my new bag. I got the pattern from Made By Rae. It's called the Lickety Split Bag. I think it is one of my favorites. I added the flap and the buttons myself. It has 2 pockets on each side. I love the pockets, they're big enough to hold a bottle of water. I have never been a big purse girl, but I love this one!

Here's one side:

and here's the other: