Butterfly Handbag and after Thanksgiving

Well, Thanksgiving was a really nice day spent with family.  Every year I promise myself that I will not "overcook", but as always there are a lot of left overs and no one in the house, except for hubby and me.  The week end was spent driving the kids back to school and now it's time for me to get to business...I mean sewing.  Hope all those who celebrated had a blast.

Here is a new bag I made with brocade fabrics.  I used several different purple brocade fabrics for the outside and fully lined it with cotton fabric.  This bag is great because it is tall enough to hold your eyeglass case.  Usually I only take the bare essentials when I go out in the evening (lipstick, drivers license, and a few dollars), but as I am getting older I am finding it hard to find a spot for my eyeglasses.  I don't need them all the time, but I definitely need them to drive and to read fine print (bi-focals).  Any way, getting back to the bag.  I used a decorative fabric covered button on the flap.  It closes with a metal snap on the inside of the flap.

I named it the Butterfly Handbag because the brocade fabrics have butterflies all over them.  Look how roomy it is on the inside.

Well, that's it for now.  I am going on over to add a few handbags to my website Talinshandbags.com.

New Handbags

I have been playing around a bit with a few new handbags.  Some I made from old magazine articles I had saved, some from JoAnn's web site, and some are originals.  Here are a few I can show you.

This is from an old magazine.  I just love the Lotus flower pulls.

This one is a JoAnn, but I altered it a bit.  I used a belt for the pull.  I purchased the belt without ever planning on using it as one.  I just loved the colors and thought I would use it someday on a handbag (as handles or as decoration).

This tote is an original.  I found the trim at a garage sale for  under $3 for  about 5 yards.  I just could not pass it up.  I had enough fabric to make a zippered pouch which I forgot to take a picture of.

These past few weeks I have been thinking about my blogging and have decided that I will only post once a week and just show off what I have made.  I think I will get a lot more accomplished this way.  I will also read the blogs I follow on a weekly basis.  Of course, I will always answer all comments left on my blog...which leads me to this:

I have received several comments anonymously.  If you post a comment anonymously, I have no way of contacting you.  You can remedy this problem in two ways.  Either change your settings so that your name appears with your comments or add your email address in your comment.  If you do not know if you comments appear with an "anonymous" label, leave a comment and then go back to view the title in your comment.  

If I have not replied to your comments or questions, it's because I have no way to do so.

Have a great day everyone.  I am off to get ready for Thanksgiving.  Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving with friends and family. 

A New Wristlet

I have been working on a new wristlet.  This is my prototype.  It is constructed from purple decorator/upholstery fabrics.  It is fully lined with 100% cotton fabric.  The tricky part was the wrist strap, but I think I managed to get it just right.  I embellished the front with a large purple flower that I made from wired ribbon, buttons, and flower centers.  It was a bit time consuming to hand-stitch the flower to the front of the wristlet, but I did not want to glue it on.

I have a great many ribbon ribbon books, but none that I love as much as this one.  It is titled Passion For Ribbonry by Camela Nitschke.  It is an old book, so I don't even know if it's still sold at book stores, but if you see one at a garage sale, do not pass it up.

On a side note, I ended up making another potpourri sachet for my closet.  I cross stitched this chair a long time ago and it was just sitting around in my sewing room until today.

I hope you all have a great week.  

Too Long

This is the longest that I have not posted...but I have a fairly good reason.  I was lucky enough to go away on vacation for two weeks.  My husband and I were celebrating our big wedding anniversary and we went to Amsterdam and Munich (Oktoberfest).  We were lucky enough to go with our close friends who were also celebrating their anniversary.  We had a great time and my friend posted pictures on her blog bestfriends25th.blogspot.com.  I wish I could post pictures, but I borrowed my daughter's camera and am waiting for her to get home from school.  Why you ask?  because I cannot find the connector between the computer and camera.

And this past week, we have been without power so I was unable to post...and so the excuses pile up.

However I do have one picture I would love to share with you.  This quilt top is the result of the my summer sew days with my friend Priscilla.  I love the way it turned out.  It is a string quilt, but I had drafted a picture of it before I began working on it.  So all the blocks were planned before I sewed them together.  It was really quite easy, but I could not do a thing without the draft paper.

It is really large, a little over a 100" x 100".  I thought I was going to use it in my bedroom, I desperately need a quilt for my bed.  Would you believe I do not have one for it yet?  But the more I look at it, I see it is just right for one of my daughters.  So, as always, guess where it will end up?

And, by the way, I have been keeping up with my Christmas Through the Year Club gifts.  I have just not had enough time to post pictures of what I have made.  Hopefully I will do that soon.