Bag of the Week 11

Polymer Clay Necklace Purse

Here’s something a little different this week.  I made this little necklace purse a number of years ago when I was experimenting with polymer clay.  The instructions were published in Belle Armoire magazine, published by Stampington & Company.  Unfortunately, I have gotten rid of all of my old Belle Armoire’s and cannot find information about this article online.  If anyone has old issues and finds the reference I would be grateful if you would share the information in a comment.

The purse was constructed from sheets of polymer clay rolled out with a pasta machine.  These sheets were then molded around a form which was created from layers of corrugated cardboard wrapped in aluminum foil.  Several colors of clay were kneaded together to give a mottled effect and the front and back were stamped with a rubber stamp using metallic gold ink.  Clay beads were added along the sides and bottoms and then the box was cut complete around to form the purse opening.  After baking (the clay is left on the form until after this step) a rattail strap strung with more beads was added.  Lastly, a black tassel was threaded through the bead on the bottom.

This is a unique purse that can be worn like a piece of jewelry.  It is very delicate and fragile so care must be taken when wearing it.  It is 3” by 4”, large enough to hold ID, credit card, money, lipstick and maybe even an iPhone.

Things have been very busy around my house recently.  I am currently working on a long-term home dec project and I am hoping to have a series of posts with pictures coming soon.

Bag of the Week 10

The Picksac

Like last week’s bag, this week’s selection was designed by Barbara Randle and is called the Picksac.   The instructions and pattern for this bag can be found in Barbara’s book Crazy Quilting with Attitude. 

The body of the bag is created from a solid piece of fabric, in this case, an ivory and navy toile.  The front and back of the purse have pockets that were pieced from a variety of denim prints.  A single handle, large button and tassel complete the bag.

The bag is lined with a medium weight denim, and the difference between the weight of the inner and outer fabrics created a neat piping effect along the top edge.  In fact, this look was created simply by favoring the heavier lining fabric slightly when pressing the edge.

After writing about Barbara’s two books last week I noticed one for sale at one of my favorite discount book sites, www.hamiltonbook.com.  More Crazy Quilting with Attitude  is on sale here for a mere $4.95.  This is a beautiful and inspiring book, one you will be pleased to add to your collection.

Bag of the Week 9

Gondola by Barbara Randle

The vernal equinox might be another two weeks away but I am sure wishing for a little breath of spring.  So I pulled out one of my cheeriest purses for this week’s bag.  This is one of several designs I have made by Barbara Randle.  

Barbara is best known for her modern take on crazy quilting.  She is the author of two books, Crazy Quilting with Attitude and More Crazy Quilting with Attitude, and offers classes throughout the country as well as from her home in Birmingham, AL.  Her designs are fresh, modern and full of color.  She likes to use a black/cream colored print in her work which really makes the colors POP!  Her technique is not hard to master and the embellishing portion is loads of fun.  Barbara also has several patterns available through the Vogue Pattern company.

This bag is similar to Barbara’s Gondola Purse.  I made this bag while attending Martha Pullen’s School of Art Fashion.  Barbara designed this bag for the event and came with lots of kits in all sorts of color choices.  I chose colors that I love but that were a little outside of my comfort zone just to challenge myself a bit.  The fabric pieces, largely silk, were pieced onto a canvas foundation and then embellished with couched fibers and decorative stitches.  The lining, in two cheery colors, lime green and turquoise, has lots of pockets for organization.

This was a really fun purse to create and is also fun to carry.  It gets lots of attention!  Watch for several other B. Randle Designs to show up as a Bag of the Week in the future.

Bag of the Week 8

Felted Wool Purses

A few years ago I was really into felting hand knit items.  My husband’s aunt raised sheep, and I had a lovely supply of Icelandic wool yarn which was not only beautiful but had sentimental meaning as well.  It was a dream to knit and felted beautifully.  The other thing I love about felting is that it makes my sometimes-not-too-perfect knitting less apparent.  Felting hides a multitude of sins. 

The first thing that I knit for felting was a hat (which is the subject for another post in the future – the before and after pictures are hilarious).  I then switched to purses and made quite a few.  I primarily used two patterns by Fiber Trends and was able to create unique looks by varying the type of novelty yarn I incorporated into the wool as I knit.

These two bags were created using the pattern called Party Purses.

I used naturally colored Icelandic wool for the body of the bags and added Lion Brand Fun Fur in at the top (the dark purse used three colors of Fun Fur all knit together).  The knit bags start out much larger than the finished ones – as the wool felts and shrinks it compresses the eyelash yarn, making a nice, dense trim.  The bags were felted in a lingerie bag using my top-loading washing machine and Wool Wash soap by Eucalan.  

The handles of the purses were both created with additional yarn twisted into a thick cord using a tool called the Spinster.

All of the cold weather we’ve been having has me thinking about knitting wool again.  Good thing I’ve still got some of that wonderful Icelandic in my stash.

Bag of the Week 7

Chubby Little Snowman Pail

Chubby Little Snowman had a carrot nose,

Along came Mr. Bunny and what do you suppose?

Hungry little bunny, looking for his lunch

Ate the snowman's carrot nose, nibble, nibble, CRUNCH!

 (as sung by my three-year-old)

Those of us here on the East Coast have had more than our share of snow this year.  And here comes another bucketful of snowy goodness guaranteed to warm your heart even when there are icicles all around.  Farmyard Creations has designed a fabric pail adorned with a snowman, complete with snaps for eyes, an appliquéd carrot nose and buttons down his front.  You begin by layering the outer pail fabric with batting and then fusing on the various pieces of the snowman.  Each piece is machine appliqued with a blanket stitch.  The mouth is hand embroidered, snaps form the eyes and the cheeks are blushed with powder blusher.  This outer layer is then stitched into the pail form and lined.  The quilted handle is secured to the pail with more buttons.

These pails make a wonderful container for homemade goodies at the holidays or for packaging other gifts.  They also make a nice container for holding holiday cards.  There are other designs in this same line by Farmyard Creations including a Santa, angel, bunny and bear.  The patterns appear to be out of print but they are frequently available on Ebay.  From what I can tell, the designer behind Farmyard Creations, Karla Eisenach, has now formed a new company with her daughters called Sweetwater which designs and markets quilting fabric, patterns and scrapbooking supplies.  They have a really wonderful blog which showcases many of their beautiful creations.