Simple Is Hard To Do

The purse I'm working on is for my realtor. We first met when I was fifteen and worked at McDonalds and Lyn was one of the managers. She's been my realtor for almost twenty years which includes several moves.

There's a huge difference making a bag when I'm simply exploring ideas and making a bag when it's for a specific individual. Lyn's preference is for practical pockets and clean lines with little to no embellishment. She doesn't like jewelry. LOL - can you imagine? What that means is a simple bag and simple is hard to do. In terms of the elements and principles of design, there's nowhere to hide and you have to work harder to maintain balance and interest.

I started this project in April, worked on it for a few days, and put it aside due to house stuff. It's taken me a while to reconnect with the original ideas. As well as the main cavity, she needs a pocket for her phone, one for her realtor access key, and one for her car keys. She also said she'd like a bag she could wear across the body when travelling that would have a place for her passport and tickets.

Each pocket needs to be lined so there's an inside to slip the stuff into. Figuring out how to wrap the edge, insert the zipper, and line the pocket neatly in as few steps as possible has been like putting a puzzle together. Above, the two pockets on the right are for her access key and phone. The flap is to cover the opening of a pocket designed to slip your hand in. Below...

... the left side is in place. It was stitched down stopping one inch above and below the flap. I used a satin stitch to back tack the opening and give the edges more strength. When sampling the back tack stitches, brown thread was a bit overwhelming and black thread was too harsh when stitched that dense. I used the brown thread and then dotted it with black felt pen to tone it down. That worked great.

The flap on the second side is over a zipper pocket. While it's more fiddly to get to, this seemed like a safe option for travelling and could be placed flap away from or toward the body. There will be additional pockets on the inside.

This quilted brown fabric is from the Bits & Pieces of Potential box. I stitched it when working on The Handbag Project last fall and it first appeared in Susan's purse ...

 .... and then again in Ruth V's purse. In terms of zero waste sewing...

...... it's the fabric that just won't die. Look at how much I still have left. I'm debating making one piece of fabric from the scraps and putting that into the Bits & Pieces of Potential box instead of this pile OR... Howard's cousin just had a baby girl and I want to sew her something so this may work - combined with some other fabrics - for a coat. That's something to think about while I'm finishing the purse.

This morning - cleaning - and then more studio time. YEAH! I'm making progress.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - zero waste sewing is free sewing. Right? How fun!