Pretty Purse

I hate purse shopping. I mean, I really hate it. I hate everything about trying to find a purse I like. The colors, the styles, the sizes, the materials, the prices--it is all quite frustrating, because "everyone else" seems to like something that is much different from what I like. Thus, I generally avoid shopping for a purse unless I absolutely have to.

My last purse was a thrift store find. I was not even specifically looking for a purse at the time, but this one caught my eye.




It is small. (I do not go for big bags.) It is muted enough to go with pretty much everything, but it is not boring. It is feminine. It is cute. (Even my husband said so.) Besides, it cost only a dollar. I have been quite happy with it for a few years.

However, it is wearing out. You can see some of the pills collecting on it. Also, for awhile, I have wanted something a little more "elegant" than "cute." So I have idly glanced at purses when I have been out shopping for other things, but--as I expected--I have not discovered anything to my liking. Therefore, as I often do after attempting to find something satisfactory in the stores and utterly failing, I decided to make my own.

Currently, I am not buying any more sewing materials. My sewing room is full as it is. That means that I must work with what I have on hand. It also means that I have a huge stash to raid when I start a new project. This was in my stash, and I pulled it out most gleefully:



It is a shirt, a rather large one. It was given to a few years ago, and I saved it for the fabric (since it is much to big for me and not really my style). It is washable stretch velvet, and I think it is simply beautiful. I removed and saved the buttons and cut up the shirt to turn it into something I can use. Since it is stretch velvet, I needed a lining that would not give, or the purse would be pulled out of shape. Once again, I looked through my stash and found something delightful:



These batik-dyed cottons were also given to me. The pieces are not very big, which is why they have not been used in some other project. However, the combination of them turned out to be just enough for the lining of my purse. I put in a few inner pockets (one of them zippered), too. I love being able to actually see inside my purse when I am looking for something. Most purses seem to have dark linings, which makes trying to find something about like searching a black hole: All the light just disappears. Well, this purse does not have that problem.

I am quite pleased with how it turned out.



I did add some stiffening to the shell, since the purse would be quite floppy without a skeleton of some sort. Is it not lovely??


It is so demure and elegant on the outside, but it is bright and fun when you get close enough to see inside. Somewhat like some people I know. (The zipper, by the way, is a vintage one from 1947. Perhaps I will do a post on that sometime.)

I love my new purse. Even my husband exclaimed, "Wow!" when I showed it to him. Definitely a success.

I Have Returned

Obviously, it has been awhile since I last updated my blog. I am no longer sewing professionally. Since my marriage in August of last year, I am delighted to have started a new career as "domestic engineer." I still sew a bit, too, as the notion takes me. (No pun intended.)

I sewed for our wedding, of course. I had to. No one else could make my dress for me--and I certainly would never find such a dress in a store.



Yes, that is my wedding dress, and yes, it is blue. I have never wanted a white wedding dress. The fabric I used is actually drapery material. A seamstress friend gave me a roll of it years ago. I thought it was beautiful at the time, but it never occurred to me that I would end up using it for my wedding gown.

The princess-seam gown has a very full skirt: It is nearly a full circle. It is fully lined with cotton, which is cooler and more comfortable than a synthetic lining. The raglan sleeves are darted at the top to give them a bit of shape, and they are roomy enough for swing dancing (which was essential for the dance at our reception). The original pattern had a scoop neckline with a zipper down the back; but V-necks look better on me, and my husband likes buttons down the front. So I changed the pattern a bit and made a practice dress to try it out. It worked.


The ornamentation is handmade Irish crochet. My mother did most of it; I added a bit, as well. Each of the buttons has a tiny crocheted flower stitched to it, with a ring of opalescent beads in the center. (I made the buttons.) All of the threadwork has beads in it.



Here is the back. I made the snowflake-like motif in the center of the design and a few of the small flowers. Other than that, the credit goes to my mother. She made a large number of individual motifs and sent them to me, and I figured out a placement for each of them before hand-sewing them into place (and adding beads where necessary).

I did some other sewing for the wedding, too. Perhaps I will make some posts about that another time.

Runners for the Bride

As in "table linens," of course, not sprinters.

The bride who had me make a sash for her dress also wanted coordinating runners to decorate the tables at the reception.




The fabric is actually more navy than it appears in the photo, and the lining is more ecru than actual white. It has a poly/cotton fiber content. It had to be a closely-woven cotton or cotton-blend, because the bride plans to have a wreath design screen printed on to match the graphics on the wedding invitations. Each of the runners is seven feet long by one foot wide, with a decorative seam two inches from the edge.

Simply elegant.

For Auction Again...

Well, not really. It is for sale, though.

Remember the silent auction dress? I still have it, and now I am offering to you!! Here is another picture of it (I think it shows up better in this one than the one in the previous post):

It is about a size 6/8, and you can have it for $75 (plus shipping, if it has to be sent somewhere). Just send me an email if you are interested or if you have any questions.

Wouldn't you love to have this pretty little thing?

Something Blue

More wedding wonderfullness!!

Perhaps that is a tad too gushy for this little project, but it is for a wedding, after all. Is not the occasion supposed to be all bubbly and iridescent?

The soon-to-be-bride in this case had a slight problem with her wedding garments. The gown itself is a simple, lovely white lace little thing. The sash with it, though, just did not do it for her. I would have to agree.

It is not that the sash itself is bad, per se; it just is not right for the dress. Obviously, I haven't a picture of it with the actual dress, but I can show it to you against a white lace background. The color, as you can see is champagne. Against the dress, it is really quite jarring. The color is the first thing that makes it wrong for the dress.

The second is that it is too long. The dress is floor-length with no train, and the bride is not a tall woman. This sash, even when tied in a bow, extends a few feet beyond the hem of the dress. It just does not look quite right.

The third difficulty with it is the weight. The thing is heavy. The dress is empire-waisted, which means that the sash has to be attached to the dress by means of a couple hooks that are inserted into thread loops at the waist seam. That makes for an awful lot of weight dragging on the bride as she walks, not to mention a lot of pull on the dress itself.

This sash just will not do. Here is its replacement:

Once again, my client decided to go with something slightly off the beaten path of wedding tradition. (I believe her shoes will match the sash, too.) The navy contrasts prettily with the white lace, and the single layer of fabric is nice and light. (The edges have a rolled, serged finish.) Additionally, it is a better length, since it was made especially for the lady who will be wearing it.

It is so nice to supply a bride with just what she wants.

Update: When my client came to get the runners I made for her, she said that the sash looked great with her dress when she tried it on at the final fitting. Her mother, who came with her, also exclaimed that it looked really good. I am quite pleased with such a report.

Not Your Average Wedding Gown

I must admit that I actually prefer non-traditional wedding gowns. Traditional ones are very lovely; do not get me wrong. However, I like something a little more unusual. This recent client of mine presented me with the opportunity to construct something somewhat out of the ordinary when it comes to wedding attire.

It is for a second wedding, and she wanted to be different. She looked at all the traditional nuptial couture and was unable to locate what she wanted. That is when she contacted me. Since she could not even find a picture of what she had in mind, she sent me what she called a "rough sketch" (which is a whole lot better than anything I could draw). This was my introduction to the project:

It is a two-piece dress. The bodice is a strapped corset; the skirt has an uneven hemline, with the front higher than the back. She said that she was thinking of a champagne shade of fabric. I told her I thought it would be beautiful. The material she ended up getting is more gold than champagne, but I think it made a gorgeous gown.

The bodice is boned with ribs on nine of its seams; it will not lose its shape. It is trimmed with the skirt fabric, and the same fabric was also used for the lacing. (The small picture at the top shows a detail of the bodice brocade and solid trim.) The skirt has a darker gold lining, which adds a little interest and subtle emphasis to the high/low hemline.

The wedding is scheduled for September, but my client was quite happy to have the dress taken care of early. She was decidedly pleased with how it turned out, saying that it is even better than she expected to be. Now that makes for job satisfaction.

Good Cause Epilogue

Remember the dress I made for the Sticks to Bricks silent auction? Since it did not fit the mother of the man who won it, I got to make another one. She tried on the one that was at the auction and decided that she would like the neckline raised a little and that she would prefer sleeves. (The original was sleeveless.)

She also wanted a different fabric. The fabric I used for the first dress was a pale lavender polyester; she wanted something a little more breathable, and she mentioned that she likes blue. However, she did not wish to vary the color very much from the original, since that one had made her son think of her. I set off to the fabric store to see what I could find.

I returned with an absolutely gorgeous piece of blue cotton, which is pictured at the top of the post. It has a pretty texture woven into it, and the finish on it makes it wrinkle-resistant. It has somewhat purple undertones to it, keeping it near the spectrum of the original fabric. It made a lovely dress.

The bodice is lined with a lightweight white poly/cotton blend. She was delighted with the fabric I chose, calling it a "happy medium" between the material used for the first dress and the color that she prefers.

I was quite pleased with how it all turned out, and so was she. She told me that she would wear it for her birthday. Additionally, her son was gratified because he was able to get her just what she wanted, making a happy ending for everyone involved.