100th Post and My New Purse

100 posts, who ever knew I had so much to say?!? I have something sewn to show for it, too.
A new bag and here is the story of my new bag.


There once was a mom with a cute new purse but, yes there is a but, it wasn't big enough for summer and all the summer activities we have. A mom with 4 daughters needs a bigger purse, nevermind one daughter is 20, another 17 and then twins that are 12, I still get their stuff at times. Let's see there is

• ipods (mine and each of their Nanos)



• Sunscreen - at least one or two



• bottles of water or diet pepsi for me



• cell phones



• magazines and books



• sunglasses



• hats



• then all the other purse items you have to have

Okay, you are getting the picture. I went through my pattern stash and found McCall's MP275, odd number but one of the patterns you find on the pattern cabinet. This bag had the design features I wanted, large and rectangular. It also had some cute design features - ribbon ties and the side, a ruffle at the top and a blank canvas to make it my bag.

I pulled out some cute cherry fabric with aqua background, I love this fabric and couldn't wait to use it. I proceeded to look several fabrics and settled on red and aquas. I tried some green but that wasn't working. The red of the cherries was my inspiration, so out came some red ribbon, red decorative thread and denim for the majority of the purse body. I wanted the quilting cotton to pop and be the center of attention.


Construction went a bit at a time and went pretty smoothly except for my ruffler, anyone seen the long screw that works with my ruffler? I sure can't find it, darn, so I had to baste and ruffle by hand. I started with the basic piecing and attached that to the denim for quilting. I used cotton batting for the purse but it wasn't stiff enough. On the lining, I used fusible interfacing and canvas to help stiffen the bag. This was a nice combination and resulted in a purse with structure.

My Cherry Purse will lead a busy life: work, softball tournaments, vacation to Florida, college visits with 17 year old daughter, shopping, and all sorts of summer fun.
As you can tell I like my new bag. I am entering it into this contest.



Read all about this contest and enter your own bag - the details are here



Okay, if you have stuck with me this far here is my pictures:








This is the same idea as the charm pack bag - just with different piecing
If you have been this patient and are still reading at the end of this post, you deserve a little something. Just post a comment in my blog and you will be registered for Romantic Home Sewing by Christina Strutt.


A little something for reading my blog and sticking with me for 100 posts. Thank you all for all the kind comments, I appreciate it so much. I will draw the winner on Sunday evening.