Project Paisley

As promised in my previous post, I'm proud to share my first project of 2011 today.  Woo!  It's also the very first sewing post on Welcome Sunshine Home and it's been a long time coming.

After sewing gifts for others in 2010, I made myself a purse shortly after the holidays.  I love the clean and simple lines of the exterior.  It's a shoulder bag and the strap lengths are just.  I can't 'do' handbags because I'll set it down in a store and leave it behind (aka Jake would get stuck holding it!).

I can't think of anything else I own that is paisley.  I liked all the fun colors.  I purchased the fabrics and sewing pattern at Joanns a couple months ago.  I didn't worry about matching the fabric pattern up at any seams because I had just enough fabric to cut the all the pieces.  The pattern is busy so they blend in.

I had some fun with the interior.  I thought orange would be a cheerful punch of color during the long winter months.

My new Windows smartphone was my motivation to finish this project quickly.  I needed a better way to carry it around.

All my girl junk has been rolling around in my laptop bag's big pocket and my coat pockets for months.  Simply annoying.

Phone, post-it list pad, pocket planner, lotion, breath mints, hand sanitizer, water, my old pink camera, fleece gloves, click pencils, pen, Netflix, spearmint lip gloss, mint lip balm (no shine), peppermint lip balm (favorite for years), cash (this is rare for me), debit card, credit card, and driver's license.


I altered the pattern a bit to customize the pockets for my junk.  Everything in it's place.  Ahhh.  :)

My favorite one is the contrast (aka easy to find) lip gloss pocket that I added.

I was going for speed so I didn't take any photos of the work in progress.  It has simple magnetic closure.

It's hard to see with this fabric but the bottom is gathered.   Don't mind the dog hair...notice their legs in the top right of the photo?

The purse even coordinates with my new emerald green jacket (in treeline).  Happy accident!  It's hard to capture the green properly in winter's harsh lighting.  It's deeper than this photo...

It's nothing fancy but it's done and it's exactly what I need.

I hope you like it too!  I'll update this post later with the sewing pattern info if you're interested.  This is a simple project that'd be a great for beginners to build sewing confidence.

UPDATE: Here's the pattern info for the shoulder bag and a photo from the pattern's packaging.  The bag's overall shape and the gathering on the bottom is easier to see.

Butternick pattern B5449 Bag A

Have you marked anything off your 2011 to-do list lately?  I'd love to hear about it.

Click here to see some of the parties I'll be mingling at this week.