purse – handmade by Carole Carr

My bathroom is blue, and now I have a purse to match! So…a bathroom photo shoot.

Published on February 7, 2015February 6, 2015 by car2oleLeave a comment

Look at how nice my purse looks in here!

Our lady of Guada-LOO-pe. It’s the February bag-of-the-month, the Hyacinth Bag, from Sew Sweetness. I bought this fabric knowing I would find a perfect project for it. I can always do blue.

I like the way this bag sits next to the body. In this case, a foam body with really pointy boobs. You should thank me for making sure those didn’t show up in the photo. Do you like my little splashing waves made of tiles?

I am also digging the adjustable strap. I can wear it cross-body, two hands free. Ooh, think of the browsing I can do when both my hands are free!

The lining is so darn cute! Coordinating fabric from Kanvas, obviously. Teeny little gold shots in the roses. Color, not liquor shots.

It’s hard to tell that this is the across-the-body shot, because I worked so hard to leave out the boobies. But it is.

Under the flap, we have all the built-ins. Coin pocket, card holders.

This is the back side of the bag. That one lady is doing pretty good, considering the fact that she has been bisected by a blue zipper.

My sister in law is already trying to lay claim to this beauty, but I think I need to give it a test drive. I feel like if I am carrying this bag, the force will be with me. I’ll let you know how that works out.

Live long and prosper.

Pardon the interruption, this blue bag budged in line and is screaming for attention.

Published on February 6, 2015February 6, 2015 by car2ole2 Comments

Give that fabric a break for one day, and look what happens!

After leaping from one backpack right into a second backpack, I decided to take a short break. From backpacks. I’ll finish that coral beauty soon.

I joined the Bag of the Month Club over at Sew Sweetness. You can still get in on this cool deal, six new purse patterns, one each month, January through June. The February pattern is by Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness. This is called the Hyacinth Bag.

This is the front of the bag with the flap already finished and attached. Sara added some cool details – a coin pocket and three credit card slots.

Hope my topstitching can hold up in the close-ups! And it is not an optical illusion – there are two saints hovering over that zipper. Have I mentioned that I love putting in zippers? And how pretty is this fabric? It’s Lady of Guadalupe by Kanvas.

Shaka Hula Fork Dude is holding the back of the purse with a – wait for it – zipper! That’s where I’ll keep my ginormous new phone. And Shaka Hula Fork Dude has something he wants to say…

Hi Linda!

OMG, you haven’t even seen the lining yet! You’ll just have to suffer until tomorrow.

Now go make something pretty!

The pack is back! And I’m not talking about Green Bay, Bubba!

Published on February 4, 2015February 4, 2015 by car2ole4 Comments

Backpack number two, travel bag number four. All in the New Year!

The Shaka Hula Fork Chef wanted to get in on this one. Cheeky little guy.

To recap my obsession…I am determined to make the perfect travel bag. One’s too small, one’s too heavy, one is ALMOST just right. I’m living Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Maybe this one will be Baby Bear.

The pattern is the Dawn to Dusk backpack by Chris W. Designs. This fabric is from the Lark Collection by Amy Butler. I redrafted the pattern to add one inch to the width, two inches to the height, and two inches to the depth. And, by golly, my laptop will definitely fit into this one!

I had to redraft my redraft of the water bottle pocket to make it wider, and also added an inch in height. I put in a 2″ gusset at the bottom of this pocket, so the water bottle will sit nicely and not squirt itself out of the pocket. At this point, I’m pretty sure I could stash a liter bottle of vodka in this bad boy. Not that I’d want to do that, but I could.

The snappy pocket on the other side also got a makeover. It’s 2″ taller and 2″ wider. I could actually put something useful in here. Like Junior Mints and a bottle of Ambien.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to change the curvy strappy part. I still have to add on the buckles, then the outside will be done. Except for the fact that I forgot to put in the webbing at the top to make the hangy-uppy loop. Rip-a-dee-doo-dah. And I still have to make the lining. Wait ’til you see that!

Now you have to sit back and suffer. I’m going to leave you hanging for a day, unlike this backpack, which does not yet have it’s hanging loop. We’re going into town, into civilization, to shop for new phones and a new phone plan. I fully expect this to take all day, much to my chagrin. So no progress in my sewing room expected today, and I am not planning on posting tomorrow. Although, maybe an intermission…

Stay crafty, my friends.

My backpack has a secret.

Published on January 29, 2015January 29, 2015 by car2ole7 Comments

I’ve added a dandy water bottle holder onto my backpack! You know, one of those easy-access pockets where you put the stuff that you want to gift to the TSA agents.

I drafted the pattern for this pocket, twice actually. The first pocket I made was alarmingly short. I’m sure my vodka would have fallen out at an inconvenient time.

The other side has a snap pocket.

The patten called for a magnetic snap. I put on a real snap, a heavy-duty one, so it couldn’t just pop open and spill my worldly goods. My small worldly goods. You want to see the secret my backpack is concealing?

It’s backless. So maybe it’s not a backpack. It’s just a pack. TOMORROW it will be a backpack.

Look at that last picture again. See my little kitty face? Handmade by not me. Clever Miss O.

The mystery is solved: I publicly admit I am sewing my third travel bag in one month

Published on January 28, 2015January 28, 2015 by car2ole9 Comments

That gorgeous fabric is becoming a backpack.

I’m on a quest for the perfect travel bag. During this month of January, I have already made two travel bags. The stunning Repressed Fantasies travel bag…

And the slightly more sedate Flocking Cardinals travel bag…

I carried my cardinals on a weekend trip to Honolulu. Like beta testing for a travel bag. I found out it’s just not the right travel bag for me. Fear not, somebody I know will be gifted with this bag, so it will not be abandoned.

I switched direction entirely on my travel bag quest, decided to try a backpack. It would be great to travel with at least one free hand. After way too much thought, too many Bing searches, and scouring the depths of Etsy, I chose the Dawn to Dusk backpack pattern by Chris W. Designs.

The teaser pictures I posted yesterday were of the backpack straps and the beginning of the front pocket.

I sewed the lining for the front pocket, and it looks awesome

Inside the front pouchy pocket is a pen pocket, which can also hold my cell phone.

The pouchy pocket goes on next, then the front flap to make it all look tidy!

I love the color of this zipper! The pattern has straps with buckles over the flaps. I decided to leave off all the pocket straps, because I’m pursuing a softer look, rather than the more utilitarian feel that I felt the straps convey.

The lining fabric is one of my current favorite fabrics also. I’ve used bits of it in my Millefiore Quilt. I was struggling with what to use for lining on this project. I was thinking of using another Philip Jacobs fabric, but it was too matchy. A different floral with very similar colors. It just didn’t ADD anything to this backpack. I was trying to clear a space off of my, ahem, slightly cluttered cutting table. As I was folding up the holey fabrics for the Millefiore Quilt, I was, like, wait a minute! This looks awesome! I also went and bought some more of it from my local enablers.

Could travel bag number three be THE travel bag? The jury’s still out, but I think it’s a very good possibility.

Now go make something pretty. It probably won’t be as pretty as this backpack, but you can try. 😜

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a skirt!

Published on January 21, 2015January 21, 2015 by car2ole2 Comments

It used to be.

Let me just say, it was a really pretty skirt – if I do say so myself.

The fabric is vintage. I’ve been carting it around the world in various forms for twenty years, give or take. It’s honest-to-goodness Indonesian batik, from Indonesia. The country where they make Indonesian batiks. Not the other place.

I bought the fabric when we lived in Jakarta. That’s in Indonesia, you know. The colors are traditional, and you can tell it is handmade because it’s not perfect.

Here’s the zipper side of it posing with a couple of my bougainvillea plants. The plants are showing off. They like to do that.

The border print, when it was a skirt, ran up the front wrap. I wish I would have taken a photo before I annihilated it with scissors.

The pattern is the Date Night Purse by Dog Under My Desk. What a great name for a pattern company. Of course I made a few modifications, because that’s how I roll. Plus I wanted to show off my awesome fabric. Those of you that like to repurpose and recycle, yahoo because I used every single scrap of that skirt. Between this purse and the matching wallet…

Now I’m thinking that more of my wardrobe should have a makeover. Because my fabric collection is not nearly big enough to keep me busy.

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. Stay crafty, my friends.

This is what is sounds like when the doves cry.

Published on January 16, 2015January 16, 2015 by car2ole1 Comment

Or maybe when the parrots sleep. Once again in the grips of some kind of obsession, another bag has sprung from my sewing room. I made a cool purse a couple of months ago.

I call him the Ay-yi-yi-yi guy. Because to me, that’s what it looks like he’s singing. But that’s not the point. Just got a bug up my bum to make another purse in this shape. The pattern is the Kimberly Bag, by Amy Butler.

I think all my bags should pose with the Shaka Fork Chef guy. He really does show them off to their best advantage. Did you notice that I put five feet on the bottom? I had some logic working at the time, I have no idea now what it was! But doesn’t it just make you happy, with the happy colors, pink and orange zippers, five feet and all? I added pockets on the inside so I have a fighting chance of finding my phone and my lipstick. Plus, it just seems wrong to make a bag and not have at least two zippers in it! I love putting in zippers, and I don’t care who knows it.

The best thing? If I have to carry around a couple dozen rulers, I will now have the perfect bag. (P.S. Carolann, this one’s for you!)

My new travel bag. Do you think the Mayans drank tequila?

Published on January 9, 2015January 9, 2015 by car2ole1 Comment

I love the way this bag turned out! Probably because the fabric is just so amazing. Made by Alexander Henry, it is called Contigo. Apparently that means “with you” in Spanish. I also looked up “me equivoque,” which means “I was wrong.” So now I suppose I’ve got a carry-on offering apologies from the ancient Mayans. I guess they felt the need to apologize to that woman who fainted from the excitement of becoming a human sacrifice. Or something like that. See the tequila bottle to the left of then agave plant?

What a great pattern! I used the Aragon Bag pattern by Sew Sweetness. You can buy it here: https://sewsweetness.com/shop/aragon-bag I made a few modifications so it will work for me. I left off the front pocket, since I didn’t want my handsome Mayan bisected with a flap. Although I had no problem bisecting Our Lady with a zipper.

I also made it two inches deeper, so hopefully I can cram enough in it for my weekend in Waikiki. I put a sturdy layer in the bottom and attached six feet so it doesn’t get airport cooties on it in transit.

Check out the skeleton dude taking a shot!

Rustled up some charming little fellows for the interior. I don’t think you can ever have too many zip pockets.

Looking forward to field testing this next Friday. Hopefully it will scare away some little kids in the airport. Hmmm…I wonder what other cool things I could make with Contigo fabric?

Stay crafty, my friends.

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