my cute new purse

Remember me saying I was working on this cute white vinyl purse a while back? Well, it's finally done! And I remembered, as I added it to my list of finished objects, that I said something about sharing it with you when I was done. So, here it is!

It doesn't go with my outfit today. I tried to put myself in something more along the lines of black and white, but brown won out. Odd, because I'd say about 90% of my wardrobe is black. Working wardrobe, that is. I have other, more colorful, more casual clothes that I wear when it's not time for work.

Anyway.

So, I like the lining. I have this rule about not using dark lining for something like a purse, where you could lose stuff in there, in the darkness, but this fabric just spoke to me, so I let it in. I think it might have been the black handles that did it. I love those handles. I had quite the search for just the right ones. You should see all the ones that didn't get picked. Of course I bought them all, one set at a time, auditioning them for the purse at home.

And then there are the pockets. Oh, the pockets! You can't see it in that picture, because it's, well, kind of dark in there, but, I put in plenty of pockets. I used all but the teensiest bits of this piece of fabric, which I'm pretty sure was 1/2 yard (I was going to say "fat quarter", but that can't be right - the purse measures about 10x11x5, so you couldn't have gotten both front and back, let alone bottom and pockets, from a piece 18x22, duh). I had to piece together almost all I had left just to get the zippered pocket. I mean, if it's too small, there isn't much point in having it, right? Then, I was too lazy to look for my directions for making a welt pocket opening (which is what you need for inserting a zipper into the middle of something, like for a pocket in the lining of a purse), so I made it up as I went along, and only remembered what I should have done after I'd done it wrong. Still, the zipper is in, the pocket is in, and it's done. It only had one pocket outside, and one inside, as far as the pattern was concerned. But, I need pockets (hello? pockets!), so I added more. A tall skinny one for a pen/pencil, a zippered one for stuff that needs to stay put. Two open ones for my cell, and my little zippered-pouch-of-everything-necessary (contents: nail clippers, glass nail file, tiny sewing kit, thimble, tiny screwdriver, book of matches (you never know when you might need to light a campfire), a couple hair clips, tweezers, mini sharpie (in case of a labeling emergency), breath strips, tiny bookmark, and my snag nab-it (which I think is banned from airline travel, but I carry it anyway).

Made using Butterick 4148, which is now out of print. I happened to find an inexpensive remnant of white vinyl one day, and thus, the idea for this purse came to be. I cut it out ages ago, changed my mind about lining dozens of times (it was almost black with hot pink flamingos!) and then got discouraged thinking about making up all the pockets I'd want in it. And discouraged about the basic troubles with sewing vinyl, and topstitching vinyl, and all the needles you can break sewing on heavy fabrics.

In the end, I conquered. And now, I have this cute purse!

(And yes, I changed the needle on the sewing machine back to a regular needle just as soon as I'd finished, so I shouldn't have any more panic attacks over huge needles used for sewing dainty fabrics. I hope.)