Quilted Purse {Sewing Project}

What do you do when the Winter temps dip to record lows?  You stay inside with a bunch of friends and make something new!  I was lucky enough to do just that!!  I have a group of friends that meet every Wednesday at our "Superwoman" Jan's house and participate in what we call "Grandma's Attic".  Funny because I am actually on the committee for our women's organization at church and planned and talked about "Grandma's Attic" when it started last Summer but have never been until today!  {Yes I was busy out of town a lot and didn't really realize how much fun they were actually having there or what this group has evolved into.}  Anyways I am in now! 

She opens her home, and never ending supply of everything, to all who dare enter from 9 AM to 9 PM every Wednesday!  Jan is the original "Superwoman" having raised 9 children and now having 13 grandchildren, all under age 6, with 3 more on the way!  She's made thousands of dance costumes and prom dresses and wedding dresses and more.  Embroiders everything on her machine!  Has made millions of miles of ruffles and bias tape, and helps everyone make everything and much much more!!!

So today we made darling little shoulder purses.  The basic concept was inspired from a pattern found in the Winter 2010 edition of Quilts and More Magazine.  The pattern is called "in cahoots" and is by designer Terry Atkinson of ATKINSONDESIGNS.COM. found at this link here http://www.atkinsondesigns.com/
Here is a link where you can order this issue or check it out
http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/magazines/quiltsandmore/qam-table-contents_1.html

We changed the look of the bag a bit and the way it was constructed.  Some girls made them bigger.  You could make them rounded or squared and really any size.  For mine I took fabric cut into 14 strips measuring 1 1/2 inches by 6 1/2 inches, which is a great way to use up scraps.  You also need two pieces of thin batting measuring 6 1/2 inches by 8 1/2 inches.  The fusible batting is what we used, as it holds it's place well for this little project.  You also need your backing fabric {we used plain white cotton} measuring 7 inches by 9 inches.  

The method used is the quilt as you go, so your purse is sandwiched with your batting and backing and quilted as you sew!  Makes things very simple!  Sandwich you backing fabric and then batting and start with you first strip at the bottom and {right sides together} lay another strip on to and sew and build the same.  For mine {with the 14 strips} you sew 6 strips on one batting and backing piece and then on the other you sew 8 strips. 

Then on the front panel {which is the side with only 6 strips} I sewed a very wide piece of rick rack across on strip.

Then I sewed a zipper on to the tops of both panels.  I didn't picture this example but the 6 strips panel is front and the 8 strips panel  is the back because it will fold forward to the front before you sew the edges together.  Also if you are making edges rounded then use a bowl for a pattern and cut to round the edges.  You could leave your purse with square edges also.

This is a picture of the back.  I then sewed edges of the bag together and sewed one side of the bias strip to it.  You will want to make your bias strip long enough to leave you a shoulder strap at the length you need.  You could purchase already made bias tape but Jan showed everyone how easy it is to make many yards {over 30} of continuous bias from one 45 inch piece of fabric!  We made ours 2 1/2 inches wide for this bag.

I then brought the bias edges from the back {where I sewed it to the bag} and folded and ironed it to the front and then sewed it down again to finish the edges..  Some of us used a decorative s shaped stitch, while others just did straight stitch.  

After the bias edge is sewn and the strap is complete then you just measure the length you desire and tie ends into a bow.  We tacked the bow down on the sewing machine to keep it from coming undone, with many stitches in the same place on the center of the bow.

Some of us decided to make these cute simple flowers out of felt circles and decorated our purses with them!  This picture shows a good view of how the back {8 piece panel} is brought forward to the front.  You can see my pink zipper near the top.  The zipper is where we connected the front panel to the back panel.

Here is my friend Mardie modeling her finished bag, that she made to send away to her daughter at college!  She will love it!!  Mardie made her bag a bit wider than the other ladies.  Great job Mardie!  Thanks Jan!  We {probably thousands of us over the years} couldn't survive without you!

So there you have it!  Another successful day at "Grandma's Attic".  Maybe there are a group of friends that you can gather together on your next cold and Wintery Day to share it with!  Can't you just imagine this little bag in different fabrics and embellished all different ways?  

Oh and the other thing we did in the afternoon was step into Jan's mother-in-laws kitchen {next door} and learn how to make the perfect pie crust {old school Grandma's style}!  I'm saving that to share with you in a couple of days!