New Purses!

[stretch.livejournal.com]

Now that the holidays are over, I can finally show you guys some of the gifts I made for my various friends!

Buttercup Bags:


This one was a Christmas gift for a friend and fellow law student, and was just made out of fabric I found in the discount bin at Joann's. It's larger than the original Buttercup pattern (by about 25%) and I opted to use o-rings to connect the handles.


This is the normally sized Buttercup, with the addition of an extra handle. Both the interior and exterior fabrics started out as IKEA sofa covers, which I rescued from the As-Is bin there, for much less than I would've spent to get the fabrics right off the bolt. I made the flower pin from the leftover scrap fabric.


Another large Buttercup, with the addition of an extra strap. I actually added 4 black covered buttons where the straps attach to the bag, but I forgot to take a picture before I wrapped it. This was a ladies grab-bag gift for a friend's holiday party.

Pleated Purse Pattern:


This was my first attempt at this pattern, and I love how it turned out! The purple here is another re-purposed discontinued IKEA couch cover, and the interior fabric was rescued from the remnant bin. This was another holiday gift, sent to my friend in New Jersey.


I was so pleased with how the purple bag turned out, that I made another one, and I was so pleased with that result that I decided to keep it for myself ;) The exterior fabric is synthetic burlap that was another IKEA As-Is rescue (I believe it started out as a couch cushion cover). The polka-doted interior was a remnant bin find. The shabby rose is just a pin, made from the scraps

For Pleats Sake:

So after watching me hunched over my sewing machine (usually whilst shouting some expletives) my mother decided that she wanted a bag for Christmas, too. Bust she had some request - specifically that it be large enough to hold the massive quantities of magazines that get her through the downtime between games at my brother's basketball tournaments, and that it not be pink. This was the result-



Now, my mother loved it, but I was more than a little displeased by the final product. The inner fabric (another As-Is rescue) which I'd selected because it was thick, and would therefore give the bag some structure, wound up being too thick, and as a result the lovely V's on both sides, that allow the bag to open like that, look much wonkier close up. However I love how the tutorial bag looked in the end, so I'll likely try this pattern again, with better fabrics.

Thanks for looking :)