small easy purse a tutorial

This is so exciting My very first tutorial!
please leave me feedback and let me know if this information is any good, I need to learn too;)

this is a purse of my own design and is great for beginners to purse making. there are not a whole lot of parts to it, its relatively small and goes together in a few hours. the trickiest part is turning the side with timtex ironed to it.
(this part can be skipped by using a heavier fabric than cotton).

And having used my daughters as guineapigs, I feel fairly confident anyone can make one!

I would recommend using cotton fabrics and recycling old jean fabric for the body of the purse
but really you can use just about any kind of fabric for it. though I would recommend staying away
from some of the lighter weight fabrics such as silks, georgette, gauze and sheers.
2-3 fat quarters and one package of timtex (if not using a heavier fabric) should be sufficient for the entire body of the purse.

Purse body
Cut 2-3 1/2"x23" strips of fabric-for strap
Cut 2-8 1/2"x22" pieces-for body inside and outside
Cut 2-8 1/2"x10 1/2" piece- one of muslin and one of fabric for purse flap
Cut 1-8 1/2x6 1/2" piece-for outside pocket
Optional; cut 1 6 1/2"x 6 1/2" piece-for inside pocket

Timtex (if not using a stiff fabric like upholstery or jeans)
Cut 1 8"x21 1/2" piece-for body
Cut 1 3"x8"-for outside pocket
Cut 1 3"x6"-for inside pocket

Velcro
1 2 1/2" piece- for inside pocket

Strap
sew together strap material along the short side so it make one long 44" strip.
Fold in thirds so the raw edges meet in the center, Iron flat.
Fold in half making sure the edges meet evenly along the open end, iron flat
sew open end together as close to the edge as you can, making sure to sew through all layers of the fabric.
repeat along the fold and set aside.

Pockets
fold the outside pocket (and optional inside pocket if using) in half , iron flat.
place timtex between folded fabric, making sure its firmly against the fold
and center it so there is 1/4" of fabric on either side and along the bottom, iron according to the instructions.
if using optional inside pocket, sew scratchy side of the velcro to the top of the small pocket,
sew a seam as close to the fold as you can making sure to sew through all the layers, set aside.

Flap
when you are done piecing and embellishing on the muslin piece take the flap fabric and with right sides together
pin and sew along 3 edges of the flap, leaving one end open. cut corners and turn flap inside out.
iron carefully from the back first on a fluffy towel so as not to flatten or diturbe the embellishments on the front.
turn over and carefully iron the outside edge of the flap. sew along the ouside getting as close to the edge as you can, leaving the raw edge alone. set aside.

Body
If not using a heavier fabric like upholstery or jean fabric, iron the large piece of timtex to the wrong side of the fabric
you will be using for the inside of your purse, centering it so you leave a 1/4" of fabric all around.
Fold both pieces of the body in half, ( leaving it a 1/2" higher at the back, for the flap) so we can position the pockets.

For the outside pocket, place at the bottom fold of the front of the outside piece, pin in place upside down so you can sew the bottom edge in place along the open seam end. take out the pins, flip up and sew down through all the layers. pin top edge at the sides.
Fold, right sides facing (leaving it 1/2" longer at the back for the flap) Pin and sew together along the long sides.Turn right side out. set aside.

For the inside Pocket (if using) place at the edge about an inch from the top of the inside of the purse.
pin and sew as you did for the outside pocket, at this time position the soft side of the velcro and sew to the body.
fold up pocket and fold raw edges under, pin in place and sew as close to the edges you can, making sure to sew through all the layers.
fold in half (leaving it 1/2" longer at the back for the flap) pin and sew as you did for the outside of the purse, making sure NOT to sew through the timtex.

stuff the outside of the body into the inside, with right sides facing, place the straps at the long end of the body leaving a 1/4" for placing the flap.
Pin and sew the short ends of the top of the purse body together, going through the strap several times to tack it in place securely. turn inside out.

Fold under the raw edges of the fabric, making sure the edges are even, iron flat.
place the flap inside the open end and pin down on both sides, sew as close to the edge as possible making sure you get through all layers of fabric.

and enjoy your fabulous homemade purse!)

teaching a new generation

My girls are in town for a few weeks of "Mommy time" and they wanted to learn how to make their own CQ purse (I'm so proud!!)
so here they are making their blocks.












She knows how to smile (Really!)

A story for you all

Isn't it funny how the brain works?
with my mind on random thought parade, I remembered this episode while sewing one morning, it's totally unrelated to anything I was doing at the time and I haven't thought of this in years
this is a memory that I've been meaning to right down before I completely forget all the details.
this is from when I babysat backstage for friends who were involved with the Organic theater company in Chicago. this would be around 1972-4

Toms jeep

"I'll drive her home" Tom said with a smile. He had a warm engaging face, merry brown eyes, a small bulb of a nose, full lips and a bristle mustache.
His hair was still wet from a recent shower and was slicked back close to his head but would eventually escape into the wild mess that he could never quite control unless he cut it close or held it tight to his skull in a pony tail.
I picked up my bag and Tom put his arm around my shoulder to steer me towards the back of the theater. "the play is going well." said making nervous small talk. everything about Tom was loud from expansive hand gestures to his booming tenor.
"the applause were loud tonight and there were 2 curtain calls." he smiled down at me"yes, we did good" letting out a lusty sigh of pleasure, practically glowing from the high of a good performance.

we left the backstage through the heavy fire doors and crunched through the gravel of the parking lot to his "new" car. a WWII era jeep still painted in army green camouflage, the gas can strapped to the back with webbing and no top.
"Isn't she a beauty?" he demanded throwing his arm wide to embrace the freedom of his new toy. "yeah, It's great" I said with all the skepticism of an 11 year old girl. I looked at him sideways wondering if he was seriously going to drive me home in this deathtrap.
"get in, get in!" he said taking my shoulders and giving me an encouraging shove towards the side of the vehicle. Tom swung himself gracefully up and over the door into the drivers seat saying, "the doors are welded shut so you're going to have to climb over." Great, I thought to myself, dumping my bag into the backseat and hoisting myself over the door frame, to land heavily into the cracked leather of the unpaded seat.

"Showtime!" he chortled, as he shoved the key into the ignition. as he turned the key, the jeep growled into surly life "Isn't she great?" he said again, with even more enthusiasm if that was possible. as I looked at him, with eyebrows raised and a smile plastered on my face, I couldn't help thinking to myself, OK, he's lost it.
I had to grab onto the door as he flung the jeep into reverse and backed out of the parking lot spraying gravel in the process. Jamming it into first gear with a crunch and clank of old gears he popped the clutch and the jeep zoomed forward, bouncing down the alley towards Clark street.

He started telling me the history of the jeep, pitching his voice so it could be heard over the roar of the engine, Tom yelled "these things were made to last." and mores the pity, I thought to myself, getting a tighter hold on the door frame and frantically reaching for the handle, conveniently placed on the dash in front of me.

As we bounced high over, yet another, pothole in the street, I glanced over my left arm to make sure Tom was still driving and that I wasn't about to be launched into a parked car or random tree. He was still in his seat, hunched forward over the stearing wheel, eyes alight with manic glee, teeth barred and a shit-eating grin on his face. I was terrified and this gave me no hope for my immediate future. Not to mention the random tree, I was still convinced, we were going to hit at any moment.

by the time we pulled up to my front door, his hair had dried, in the wind of our passing, to a dark brown halo that reached out into every corner of the night sky. "Here you go!" he declared heartily, slapping the side of the jeep with his hand, making a hollow thunking noise, "safe and sound!" With a pulse to rival any heart attack victim I thought. climbing unsteadily over the side of the vehicle I took in a deep inhalation of crisp night air, I hadn't realized until then, I had been holding since the start of the ride.

Reaching for my bag I thanked Tom for the ride home. "Any time, any time!" he was clearly pleased with himself for the good deed performed on my behlf, I was just glad to be home in one piece.
As I watched him drive off into the bright Chicago night, I sat down on the curb to let my wobbly nerves and shaky knees calm down a bit before climbing the stairs and falling into bed.

I didn't figure out until much later that no roller coaster, fast car, or thrill ride could ever come close to the excitement of riding home in Toms Jeep.

beaded diamond done

bFinished! I will do this again, I enjoyed the zen of placing he beads and couching them down it was very calming though you need a plan when placing the beads in between the main focus beads doing it by random looks a bit on the messy side.

beaded panel

I decided I wanted to try a beaded panel on my belt the kind with swirly patterns and beaded pools.
I've never tried doing this kind of beadwork before and it was "calling" out to me.
It started wanting to be framed but I decided that didn't leave enough room for the flowing pattern I wanted. the swirl at the end just sort of "grew".

I knew the symbols I wanted to put under the wave were symbols for things from this past year.

looking up at the stars and really believing in them for the first time in years.

the Man-in-the-moon who watches over us and makes us dream, the impossible can be achieved, if we would only allow ourselves feel worthy of the gift.

the butterflies in our stomach as we are about to take the leap, into the unknown and do the impossible thing we have dreamed of for so long.
and at the end, finding the key to our heart,
was there, within our grasp all along, we had just to reach out our hand, overcome the darkness of our fears and grasp it gently.

let the love and hope you have kept locked away, flow from you and the most extraordinary things happen

a new purse

Some of you may remember this piece that I started , oh, way back in '08 or '09 sometime.
well I finally finished it! and it's the sweetest little purse if I do say so myself! and I do!)

there were several lessens learned on this one like. pin,pin,pin and pin some more!
plastic canvas makes an excellent bottom, just stiff enough to keep the shape of your purse but not to stiff to turn while sewn inside.
you must leave at lease 3/4ths of an inch along the outside if you want to sew your purse sides together and zipper placement is important, you don't want the zipper opening at the bottom your stuff will fall out!


also discovered those snap covers you have hiding in a drawer are perfect for purse bottom savers.

I love how the accordion ribbon roses turned out, and all the beading along the side with the three girls.








And I even love the sequin roses, an Idea I swiped from Jo in NZ, I thought they would be to gaudy but they blend nicely and don't hang out to far to get snagged on things

belt update

I finally found the right pink for the dogwood and on further reflection I won't add any butterflies, but I did add a dragon fly to the other end

The peacock was a quickie to sew. the rest took a little longer to sort from the big honking bag o' sequins.
then the purple flowers didn't look right in their normal form of slightly cupped so I took my handy-dandy iron to them and flattened them out, much better!
now to finish with some MOP teardrops and more flower sequins over the green.











the outside of this paisley took less time than I thought it would only two days to finish, it doesn't look finished though. I'm thinking french knots around the flowers to top it off.





I added beads to this motif

the geese got a few beads too!

more corner doo-dads

most of my embroidery motifs I draw on scraps of dress pattern paper as it is very thin ,easy to sew through and doesn't pull your stitches out of whack when you pull it off like tracing paper always seams to.

the two geese should look familiarI put these two fine fellows on the stocking I made for my DBF's x-mass stocking. Don't they look cozy here?

corner doo-dads

I plan on adding butterfly beads and light pink ribbon flowers to this as soon as I locate the right color, everything I have right now seams too dark.

our initials worked in another corner isn't it just too cute? I don't usually go in for cute but I couldn't resist.


just enough of this embroidered Georgette ribbon left for a corner.

HE DID IT!

Back from Chicago to see my eldest walk the boards and get his High School Diploma! WOO-HOO! I couldn't be more proud of him, he worked so hard for this and I couldn't not be there for it.
Don't you just want to pinch those cheeks?

He also has a job all lined up as a game equipment repair guy, at one of those play-it -again places. again he;s taking responsibility for his life and I couldn't be prouder of him!!
now, one down two to go.

the tree took all 8 hours to Chicago and back, to finish and now as I look at how it turned out, I wonder if it wouldn't have been better off with out the rest of the french knot buds on the lower branches. It looks much more open and not as fussy. note to self for next time.

rain barrels and other things

I realized I haven't done any posting over the past few weeks, Naughty mommabear!

It's been so wet and rainy since may that you'd think I'd get more done than I have oh well, that's how it goes!
when you have the time you piss it away, when you don't, you're a busy little beaver!

our new house project has been to build platforms and hook up 6 rain barrels to the gutters, around the house and garage, for watering the garden.
we have two hooked up so far and its been raining so much the 55 gallon drums are so full they spout!

my side project will be, to find 6 funny/cute/whimsical fountain critters to point the water in a direction, like into a birdbath or pondy type thing, instead of up in the air!

I have been working on the Hawaii blocks and did in fact take them to Hawaii in april.

I also started a pieced belt for a dress I have in mind. its all off whites and creams and I'm thinking of doing the stitching in whites creams and pastels.
I've pieced the belt and am designing the embroidery and border bits.
I'm having trouble deciding what to do with the diamond focus block.
I know I want flowers in the corners and cabochons and beads but I'm not sure how encrusted I want it.
I'll have it all planned out and I know I'll change my mind and do something completely different with it but that's the fun of CQ!

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day!
















Here's hoping you have a wonderful day of being waited on hand and foot!