juli 31, 2012

A framed purse for my secret swap partner.

This has been staring at calling at me for weeks.


I committed to a secret purse swap some time ago and I have been sweating over this for weeks.

My secret swap partner shares almost the same taste in fabrics as I do - at least I think so - and that uncertainty was causing the sweat because maybe I got it wrong, right?

Well - I finally dug into this completely unknown territorie - I've never made a purse before.

At first it didn't go too well. Which is an understatement thats almost a lie. 

You need to use interfacing to make the purse a bit stiff and that word makes me shake. A LOT. 
Interfacing. Horrible word!
So I bought different pieces and when it arrived I could not tell it apart. HAHA - *sigh*....

Whattodo whattodo?

Samples.
So I ironed different pieces of youknowwhat to fabric and spent a long time feeling and fondling and hugging those samples to find out which one was the best suitable to use in a purse.
Having never seen or held such a purse I did not know anything about how such a purse is supposed to feel and which youknowwhat was the best to use. Huhh.... Not much help there.

I made some patterns.
It looked weird. The engineer in me demanded those patterns to be constructed properly, so I dug out the drawing and meassuring gear.
I looked at tutorials and could not get the angles right. Oh well - the tutorial writers are most likely not overachieving perfectionistic engineers and just plot in some angles with arrows pointing in very very not-engineering-correct-directions - which everybody else understand except me.
I like it ... correct. *sigh*

So I took a lot of breaks and did a lot of crochet instead but kept thinking about this purse. Constantly.

I also caught a nasty cold and felt extremely sorry for myself and all the frames were still laying there - now looking at me in a sort of.... accusing way.
I'm sure they were pointing their hinges at me and snapping closed when I turned my back at them!

Nausea set in. Procastination is a no-go for me, so on with it.


The small frames went bad. Total disaster. But I so wanted to make a tiny, sweet one for my partner.

Not good for rheumatic hands. AT. ALL.
Ruined 3 sewn purses that got glue all over - so I cleaned the glue off the small frames and put them aside. Thankfully I had bought a LOT of youknowwhat so I still had a lot left to practise the bigger purses with.

Oh... Acetone is not good for your brain. But it clears your airways if you have a nasty cold. Just saying.

The middle size purse went much better. Except the proportions were a bit weird...


weird size....

dark interior
... but the finished result looked GREAT!

I was very proud of this!


And then - on to the REAL thing!



Front
  

Back


 
Lining
Finally I was satisfied with my efforts - this I can give away without being ashamed.
Nothing beats that feeling of doing good. HAHA - you just need to be pleased with your self once in a while. And admit it :-))
I have added some goodies for my sweet secret swap partner.

Among those extra goodies is a readymade fabric coordinating small purse with a frame - without the frame glued on!!

I could not help sewing it but there is NO way I'm going to ruin this like the other small purses.
I hope my secret swap partner is up to a bit of gluing:-))


Small purse with DIY-frame!



Looks gooooood :-))))

 
And now the purse + extra goodies are sent on their way to .. well, thats a secret for now:-)



Ready to go!

It was quite a troublesome 'pregnancy' and the 'birth' of this baby was long but I hope my partner like my precious baby. A baby I'm giving away.

I'm a bad, bad woman *lol*


I found a great card that leaves no doubt about my feelings that this purse is now finished:


Pheeew....

Not only do I hope my sweet secret partner has humour - but I really, really hope she likes the purse and that I got her taste right.

Time will tell :-)

14 kommentarer:

Rachel sagde ...

It's charming and I'm sure she'll be pleased!

moira sagde ...

the purse(s) are just lovely and that card is great!

Deborah sagde ...

Your purse is lovely! Your partner will be thrilled!

Wendy sagde ...

There's no way she won't love it, it's gorgeous! I love the way you fussy cut the flowers, just beautiful! And good on you for persisting until you got it right! I've still not tried the frame purses, I'm still scared of them.

For the interfacing, it really is and should be a personal decision. It's up for you to decide - do you want a stiff bag/purse, one with a nice drape? You can go as thick or thin as YOU like. They say to match the weight of the interfacing with the weight of the fabric, but I don't. I also use it to make two fabrics the same weight - a medium interfacing on a lightweight fabric and vice versa.

Wow, I am going on a bit aren't I? Shut up Wendy.

Rosa sagde ...

Don't you dare to shut up Wendy!

Nicky sagde ...

Delightful, gorgeous, fantabulous! She will absolutely love it I know she will! She has got a sense of humour never fear!

Edny sine puslerier sagde ...

Så kjempefine punger!! Forstår godt at det er vanskelig å feste låsene på de små, men du har gode råd;) Og det kortet var kjempemorsomt;)

mammafairy sagde ...

You are on to a winner there, and I am sure your partner will be only too pleased to get more glue fumes going up the nasal passages! Why not? BY then she will be sufficiently delirious to enjoy the lot!
As for the interfacing- no right, no wrong, just different!

Grete sagde ...

Herlig beskrivelse av dette "svangerskapet" og "fødselen!" Mottageren bør bli fornøyd!
Skjønner problemer med vatt, vliselin osv. Ikke lett å vite hva som er best til hva. Og om det står noe i en oppskrift, er det ikke alle forretninger som har det eller vet hva jeg søker heller.
Jeg har ikke våget meg på punger med slike låser, tror ikke det blir noe etter din beskrivelse.....:-)
Ha en fin dag! Her skinner faktisk sola..

Sheila sagde ...

Hilarious post - I a visiting from Catherine's blog where she has received your lovely purse - I think she is very happy.

Di sagde ...

I didn't like the glue part and it made me very nervous. I have popped over from Catherine's blog and I know that she is very happy with such a lovely purse. Di x

Bente-I like to QuiltBlog sagde ...

Saa fine punge, dem bliver modtageren bestem glad for. Jeg har ikke proevet at arbejde med den slags beslag (endnu ;-)
kh
Bente

Wenche sagde ...

Et dumt spørs¨ål, men hvordan fester du låsen til stoffpungen? Håper du forsto hva jeg mente :)

Wenche sagde ...

Det ble visst noe feil her......
Hvordan fester du stofflommen til metallåsen? Jeg skal igang med at sy en slik jeg også, men så var det dette med å feste selve låsen. Har ingen bruksanvisning :)