Girly Purse

Hello there! I am so excited to share a super cute Silhouette project with you today! It was fun to make and turned out even better than I expected! See for yourself...

My DD is going to a birthday party this weekend for a friend who is turning 7. For her birthday, the little girl is saving up for a big-ticket item, so her gift this year from us is money. I hate just putting money inside a card, so I dusted off the Silhouette and made this sweet little purse and coin purse gift holder using Samantha Walker Silhouette files. The birthday girl is probably the most girly girl I know, and loves to carry purses, so this is perfect for her. The coin purse is large enough for a gift card, and would have been perfect for a cash gift, too, but when it was finished, it wouldn't fit inside the purse, so I made a smaller one just like it. I'll save this larger coin purse for another birthday party. ;)

Here's a look at the front, back, and bottom of the purse. The detail in the project is amazing! All the brads give it a nice, realistic look. The purse stays closed with a Velcro dot underneath the floral flap, and, did you notice the little "feet" on the bottom of the purse? Sweet! ;)

Here's a look at the inside of the large coin purse. The smaller one, of which I don't have a photo, fits nicely into the circle purse. 

I'm entering this project in the following challenges:

613 Avenue Create Challenge #66: Anything Goes/Optional Twist Sights/Sounds/Smells/Tastes of Spring

The Corrosive Challenge Blog Challenge #196: Show Us Your Metal

Challenges 4 Everybody #40: Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful week!

~Hugs,

Supplies Used:

Thanks for visiting my blog!

To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,

subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.

Chair Backpack

Hi Friends! Hope you're having a good week, so far. I have a little sewing project to share with you today. My DD has to have her running shoes for P.E. 2-3 days a week, so rather than having to remember if it's an "A" week, with P.E. on Monday and Friday, or a "B" week, with P.E. on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, I decided to let her leave a pair of shoes at school all the time. Only problem was that there was no where for her to keep them--space is limited in her classroom. So, I made her a backpack for her chair that she could keep her shoes and socks in all the time.

I found this tutorial by Amy at www.ourscoop.blogspot.com, and followed it almost exactly, with only a few adjustments. My DD's shoes and a couple pair of socks fit in it perfectly, and because it hugs the back of the chair so well, her regular backpack will still hang on top of this just fine.

I made this out of fabric that was leftover from some Roman shades we had made in our previous house. It's upholstery fabric, so it is very sturdy and stiff--perfect for a backpack. I used interfacing on the exterior fabric, but not on the lining.

The bag is hanging on one of my kitchen chairs here, so you can see what it looks like from the back.

I put Velcro strips on the flap to hold it closed, but if I made it again, I'd probably just make the flap much longer and add weights to it so the Velcro wouldn't be necessary. There is plenty of room inside. Even as my DD grows and her shoes get larger, they should still fit in there for quite a while.

The main three modifications I made to the tutorial were that I sewed the sides and bottom strips together before attaching them to the front and back of the bag--both on the exterior fabric and the lining; I did not cut the bag flap before attaching the ruffles; and I also sewed the edge of the ruffles into the bag flap seam. When I attached the ruffles, I first attached the top ruffle, right sides together, so that it would fold down and cover the unfinished edge of the fabric. Then, I attached the bottom ruffle underneath the top ruffle, with right sides up on the ruffle and the bag flap. After that ruffle was attached, I pressed the top ruffle down over the bottom ruffle and topstitched across the edge of the top ruffle to hold it in place. You just have to make sure you have the ruffles positioned exactly where you want them so they will cover the edge of the bag flap. 

I did consider how bad the bag might smell after a few months of having sweaty shoes in it, so I made a couple of simple sachets out of medium weight cotton fabric and filled them with Arm & Hammer Extra Strength Carpet Odor Eliminator. She will just drop one into each shoe when she puts them away and, hopefully, the problem should be solved. It's easy enough to make a couple more sachets every few months. :) This morning, when we took the bag to school and attached it to her desk chair, it (and her shoes) already smelled nice. The scent isn't overpowering or too flowery, either.

I was pleased with how this project turned out, but it was a lot more time consuming than I expected. I sure hope this bag makes it through the entire year, and it'd be real nice if it survived a few years!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderfully crafty day!

I'd like to enter this in the following challenge:

Cute Card Thursday Challenge 230: Back to School

Thanks for visiting my blog!

To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,

subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.

A Little Card Break

Hi Friends! I finally got my craft room semi-organized! I'm slowly converting it from a knitting space to a stamping/paper crafting space and it's a slow process. Once I get all my yarn and knitting paraphernalia sold, I can get really settled in, but for now, I just shift things around as more space opens up. (I'll have some photos of my craft room up tomorrow, since it's finally presentable!)

While I had my craft table completely cleared off, I got out my large self-healing mat, my rotary cutter, some gorgeous fabric, and my sewing machine and did a little sewing. I've been sewing for as long as I can remember, and for years made almost everything I wore, but now it's just for fun, and this bag was definitely fun to make.

I love the coral, aqua, and brown colors. They can easily work year-round, I think. I used my Big Shot for the flowers. Wow, that was so much easier than cutting them by hand!

The bag has a box bottom. Here's a side view:

And, here's a look at the inside. I wish I'd used French seams so there wouldn't have been any exposed seams on the inside, but I didn't think about that until later.

This pattern is simple--and free! If you'd like to make this tote, you can find the pattern here.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!

~Hugs, Cheryl

 

Thanks for visiting my blog!

To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,

subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.