Patchwork purse made completely from stash (lots of pics)

[Spiffyhink]

Ok, that's sort of misleading--I had to buy the keychain rings for the handle. But EVERYTHING ELSE was from stash, and it actually made a dent, too!



It's not really complicated--I'm usually crunched for time and dividing it between sewing and my baby. But now that it's done I'm really happy with it, and it's the perfect size for me. I've had all of the fabric I used for it in my stash for at least five years (!!!), and some of it more than that.







I hand-stitched the handle thingys to the sides. IT WAS HARD. That faux suede I used is THICK--I bent a needle too! I wanted it to be really strong, though, because I'm a little hard on my purses.







I put some more (textual) details in my blog, here:
http://www.spiffydoodledandy.com/?p=401
That way the post doesn't get too long-winded. 

[Antidigger]

That looks like a great size for everyday use and I like the fabrics you used, especially the suede.

[Kookaloo_Starr]

Love the mix of colours and patterns  

[alwaysinmyroom]

I love stash purses!  The size is great as well...the orange gives it pop and nice light lining...

why are store bought purses made with black lining?  It is a black hole!!!!

[Spiffyhink]

Thanks! I don't get the black lining either. Is it supposed to make it look bigger? And it gets dirtier faster, too--all my tissue fuzz sticks to it and makes it look icky.

Antidigger: I HATE THAT SUEDE! It's a pain in the butt to work with, but I do like the way it looks on this bag. One of these days I will make a purse with patchwork lining, and every time I open my purse I will see HAPPINESS!

[kaz814]

What a great use of stash!  It looks fabulous!

[endymion]

What a great bag! I love it!

I just about killed my hand/wrist/elbow trying to sew through a leather-like material recently. When I broke a needle, I got frustrated and invested in a leatherworking needle (or glover's needle I think it is also called)... and wished I had used it from the very start!

So I can empathize. Your bag, I think, was totally worth whatever difficulty you went through with the fabric. Fabulous result!

[sunfrogger88]

the lining fabric gives it a nice hippie kind of feel! i really dig it

and based on your post now i KNOW i have to buy a needle specifically for sewing thru leather! i figured i did.. my fiance's leather chaps are a little busted and i want to machine-sew for a neater fix! [they're actually his dads].

[Spiffyhink]

Thanks for all the compliments everyone

Sunfrogger, A special needle would probably help, especially if you're doing it on a machine (I'm always afraid of my needle breaking and flying into my eyes  ). This wasn't even real leather, but I should probably mention that on the handle part I was sewing through about seven or eight layers of fabric, and that's what really made it a pain (the bottoms of the strap were folded up, and it was a tube which had extra material from the seam turned to the inside--plus the lining of the purse and the outer fake leather layer). Good luck with the leather chaps, that sounds quite intimidating!

Endymion, I've never heard of a glover's needle. I wonder how it's different from regular ones--is it just larger?