I signed up to be an angel for someone. I've also been wanting to make something out of wool, but didn't want to pay for expensive wool yardage. I found a pair of men's wool slacks at the thrift store, and decided to try making a Buttercup Bag. I had picked up a remnant piece of pink satin a while back & used that for the lining. It turned out great and the wool gives it a lovely texture - perfect for winter! I love the bright colored lining. I hope the recipient will enjoy this bag....it was a little difficult to send it away!

I did the peacocks design from Embroidered Effects for a personal swap. I used silver sequins in the tail feathers. It was a great piece to practice some stitches on. I used split stitch, stem stitch, backstitch, french knots, and a little satin stitch. Thanks for looking!

I made this for my step-daughter for Christmas! This is the first time I've designed something myself. A friendly reminder to always be prepared for the day zombies arrive. I used 6 strands for the lettering and 2 strands for the brain.

Well, this is my first time doing a Craftster challenge, so I'm a little nervous 

Here's the story....I've been hanging onto this really cool shirt that my husband had, but never wore. It's corduroy and has Dragons & Tigers on it. I knew I wanted to turn it into a bag of some sort, but could never decide on a style. Plus, I'm just getting into recycling clothes and sewing without a pattern to guide me, so I didn't even really know what I could do realistically. Once I saw the PBW challenge, I decided it was time! So I looked at all the store bought purses I own, and it became apparent that I tend to like one particular style and I figured that was a good jumping off point.

I looked at this tutorial to get an idea of how to construct the purse, but I didn't want all the pleats. I sketched up a quick little pattern for the shape I wanted, and started cutting. This is what I ended up with after a day of sewing:


Please excuse my appearance...I'm 7.5 months pregnant 

It turned out better than I expected, and when I showed it to my husband he called it a banana purse. Long live the Dragon Banana Purse!

Here are some more detailed pictures:


The other side...dragons & tigers - oh my!


I did put 4 pleats on each side, 2 at each corner. I also re-used the front button placket to make the strap because of the really neat snaps it had. Diamond shaped with a faux mother of pearl inlay!


The lining!

And these are the shirts I used to make it. The only extra things I used were Thread, and a zipper.

I made a couple clutch type purses yesterday with some awesome summery butterfly fabric.

This one is my first attempt at designing my own thing. I wanted a little zippered bag with rounded corners on the bottom. I also decided to challenge myself and try to use piping for the first time. I have the template for the shape and a little write up on what I did on my blog


This one is from the book Pretty Little Purses and Pouches (page 62). Just a simple clutch, but with a gathered bow on the front.


I'd be interested if anyone has a links to share for piping tutorials. I wasn't sure what to do at the top where the piping ended by the zipper, so those areas are very bulky. I tried to remove as much as I could, but it wasn't enough to get the top corners to square out. Thanks for looking!

Well, this is my first post here at Craftster. I've taken a look around every so often & loved looking at what everyone was making. I just recently started sewing again after a long break. For my return to sewing I wanted an easy little project and found a perfect tutorial for a Gathered Clutch at the Noodleheads blog. I looked through some earlier posts and am a little surprised I didn't see any of these! It's super cute and easy. Here's my finished product. Thanks for looking!