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Sunday, January 9, 2011

Four projects in one post

Back in August I stayed with my sister for a couple days. We went to Porstmouth, NH, for lunch and afterward walked around downtown, where I saw a fabric shop. I asked if I could pop in for five minutes. My sister, nieces and brother-in-law followed me in. The Portsmouth Fabric Company is an amazing place. I'd wished I'd asked for more than five minutes. One niece dragged me over to a store sample of an Amy Butler purse, then the other one wanted to show me a tote bag she'd like, but in purple. My sister found a quilt that would look great in her bedroom. Only my brother-in-law didn't ask for anything. I guess none of the purse patterns appealed to him.

On the way to the airport a couple days later, the oldest niece asked for a piece of paper. She made me this list:
I've been procrastinating on these non-quilt items, but the girls haven't forgotten. So over the holidays when I had time off and nothing special to do, I got the purse and tote done! 
The pattern is Amy Butler's Frenchy bag. I think the main bag fabric is Anna Marie Horner. The pattern instructions were clear and easy to follow.

Here's the interior. If I make this bag again, I would stitch the pockets down the middle to the lining. Can't do that now, and I'm not crazy about how they gap open, but I don't think the recipient will mind. They're more like dividers than pockets. My first attempt at magnetic closures went well.  

The purple tote bag was made using this tutorial from J. Caroline Creative. Also easy to follow instructions, except no mention of seam allowance that I could find. I assumed 1/2-inch (same as the Amy Butler pattern) and that seemed to work.
The tote has a zippered interior pocket (at the bottom of this photo) as well as an open pocket. Kind of hard to distinguish either pocket with all that purple.

Yesterday I was inspired to make a reversible drawstring bag with my leftover purple strips. I based the construction on Ayumi's tutorial that I've used before. Super easy, and I kept a few more scraps from going into my giant scrap bin. 

I also made 11 tissue covers using Barb's tutorial. Also super easy. I'll put one in the tote and one in the purse to make up for the long wait.