What's Cookin?

I've been working on quite a few different projects over the last few weeks, but haven't had time to either finish them or post them. My family was out visiting two weeks ago and then I was in Boston last week... I just returned on Tuesday.

So here's what I have for you: two new purses. The first one I did following a New Look pattern and the second I did without a pattern.

This is the first one, which I consider to be more of a tote bag than a purse.

The Pattern: (New Look 6391)

This was actually the first pattern I purchased because I wanted to try something easy. This was much harder than I thought it would be, BUT that was due mostly in part to the fact that I didn't know what interfacing was, or how to dart, or how to machine baste, etc. I spent a lot of time looking up sewing videos on the internet and calling my mom (who lives 2,000 miles away...)

The Purse:

I found both fabrics at Hobby Lobby in their fabric scraps bin. I love them but didn't know what to do with them at the time I purchased them.

A Close up of the fabric:


I just love it!

This second one was inspired by some purses I saw for sell at those booths in the mall. They had them in all different shapes and sizes (as well as matching wallets and cell phone holders) that ran for $50-$80. I saw them and thought "hey! I bet I could make those".

This beast, which I've been calling the "moster purse" has taken me the better part of two days. However, to my credit, I've never attached handles OR a zipper before.

Well... here it is in all of its glory:


The zipper. I messed it up a little on each end but considering that this was the first time I've ever sewen a zipper, I'm plenty darn pleased with myself.


And a few action shots...




I took pictures and made notes of the whole process for my reference, so at some point I will probably write up a tutorial for it.