A New Purse

My usual purse was showing signs of wear.  It was time to make a new one.

Like a lot of my previous purses, this one is made of polyester microsuede.  It's a material that stands up well to a lot of abuse and can be laundered (regular cycles as well).  For this one, I used the same pattern as for the ham radio operator's purse.

Here's the pattern:

Yes, that's all of it.  Just add pockets as desired on the inside and a 2" strip to make the handle.  The linings and facings are made with just sections of this basic piece.  I've deliberately made this purse small.  That way, it doesn't collect junk!  All the things I really need fit, but not much else.

The lining is a polyester/cotton broadcloth.  I keep that fabric in my stash, in a variety of colors.  It's often used for applique, but it's useful for linings and pockets on a variety of projects, too.

I  decided to make the lining of this purse with just one pocket, sized for business cards.  Those don't do well in the jumble of other things in my purse.

The embroidery pattern is from Embroidery Library, the Jacobean Hibiscus Oval.

One friend liked this purse so much, he asked me to make him another one, in purple, for his sister.   I think I like the purple even better than the green!

Come back next week for more fun with a sewing machine!

New Purse and the Jumbo Hoop

While at the Huntsville Hamfest, one of my fellow amateur radio operators, saw my purse, the one I specifically designed for this hobby.  I wrote about it here, theree weeks ago.  She wanted one for herself and I agreed to make one.  Here's a picture of the final result, with part of her call sign covered to protect her privacy.  She specifically requested the red and white color scheme and the materials are microsuede, as before.

When I made the original purse the radio applique was done with hand guided techniques.  That worked, but it's not the only way to achieve the desired result.

I've had this Bernina Jumbo Hoop lurking in the sewing room.  Just learning to use the machine has been intimidating, so I'd never gotten the hoop out of the box.  However, it's just the thing for this project since it let me do all of the embroidery and applique without removing the fabric from the hoop.

The flowers and lightening bolts are commercially available embroidery patterns available from Embroidery Library.  The radio applique was original work. I decided to keep the radio as applique.  Part of the reason is the need for a mesh panel, so that the radio can be heard, even when in the purse.  I fired up my Floriani embroidery design software and used simple shapes to construct the radio as an applique.  Then I just added the lightening bolts, flowers, and the call sign as text.

I printed the embroidery pattern and laid it over the purse front as a test fit.  Work on in the design software to get all the elements of the design in the right place worked well, with a couple of iterations.

The next challenge was to figure out how to hoop the project.  I like cut away stabilizer for this project, since it can be left whole as interfacing for the purse.  However, the cut away stabilizer isn't wide enough to work in this hoop!  Instead, I cut the cut away stabilizer as interfacing, just the same size as the purse front.  Then I got a roll of 20" wide tear away stabilizer and created a piece big enough for the jumbo hoop.  Finally, I sewed all three layers together and then hooped it.

The first part of the embroidery was create the radio.  I started with a sew out of the outline of the radio and mesh window.

Next, I attached the black applique fabric to the front of the purse using a spray-on fabric glue.  Then I attached the mesh to the back of the project with masking tape (available in the paint section of your local hardware store). 

I finished the applique and then the rest of the embroidery, resulting in a very nice purse front.

The red and black fabric, along with the stabilizers, was cut away from in front of the mesh window.

The lining of the purse requires a matching mesh window to line up with the one on the front of the purse.  This can be made somewhat larger than the circle in the front. In this view, the lining is on top of the purse front and the table can be seen through 2 layers of mesh.

 A pocket is sewn on top of the lining mesh window to hold the radio.  Elastic in the top of the pocket holds the radio in place.

After the lining and the outside of the purse are complete, the two are sewn together at the top, resulting in a nice finished project.

This was an interesting project because it involved learning new things with the embroidery software, which I am still struggling to master and using new hardware, the jumbo hoop.  Working with the hoop went a lot more smoothly than I'd ever hoped for.  

Check back next week for an all new project with the jumbo hoop!

Amateur Radio Operator's Purse

It's Hamfest Weekend here in Huntsville, Alabama, when amateur radio operator operators gather from far and near.  There aren't many Young Ladies (a term encompassing all females with radio licenses) in the hobby, but there are a few of us.  We all need some place to stash a handheld radio.  It's also customary for radio operators at an event like this to wear something, like a hat, shirt or name tag with our call sign that identifies us to others we might have talked to on the radio, but never met.  I decided to create a purse that would fulfill both needs.

 This handy purse displays my call sign and has a specially designed pocket for my radio.  The lightening bolts and daylilies are just on there for ornamentation.  It's made of micro suede, which is easy to work with, durable, and even washable.  I'd live to give a pattern number for this purse, but there isn't one.  It's an original design that I've evolved after making a few purses.  The purse is deliberately small, so it doesn't tend to collect junk.

I used a variety of techniques in embellishing the purse.  The radio is applique.  Needless to say, there's not a applique pattern commercially available, so I designed my own and hand guided my machine to stitch it down.   The buttons on the radio were also hand guided machine embroidery, with a wide zig-zag stitch.  The lettering is from built in stitches in my sewing machine.  The "speaker" in the middle of the radio is actually reverse applique.  The mesh is attached to the back of the micro suede fabric and once the circle was sewn, the micro suede was cut away to reveal the mesh.  There's a matching mesh window in the purse lining, enabling the radio to be monitored while it's in the purse.  My call sign and other embellishments were done with conventional machine embroidery.

The top of the radio pocket has elastic, which keeps the radio from falling out.  The purse is closed with a zipper.  The open end of the zipper is on the same end as the radio pocket, so the antenna can stick out of the purse while it is closed.

Come back next week when I explore using a new to me kind of fabric.

Purse with Hungarian Style Embroidery Part 3

This is the final installment in a series discussing the construction and embellishment of a purse.

Part 1 discussed materials selection and embroidery.  Part 2 discussed finishing the outer shell and some modifications made necessary by the use of different materials than those recommended by the pattern.  Now, we'll take a look at the lining and finishing.

For the lining, I chose light green poly cotton broadcloth.  My aunt pointed out that a dark lining in a purse just makes it harder to find things!  This is an experiment to see if a light colored lining is an improvement.  The pattern calls for just one pocket, divided into two sections in the lining.  So lame!  I decided that adding a zippered pocket would make for a much better purse.  To make the pocket, I cut two rectangles, each 11" x 7".  I cut a slit in the lining and in one side of the pocket 9" long and about 1/2 wide.  

The 9" zipper was sandwiched between the lining and the pocket piece.  Getting this lined up correctly does take some effort, but it's doable.

Next, the back of the pocket is stitched to the front.

After the pocket is added to the other side of the lining, the lining from and back can be sewn together.

Add tabs and a facing, and you have a complete lining.  The lining is then sewn to the outer shell.  I like to top stitch around the top opening of the bag.  I find it holds things in place better an adds to a neater appearance, especially with the use of heavier materials.

The handles can now be sewn on to the D-rings.

The final step is to add a stiffener to the bottom of the bag, to help it hold it's shape.  The pattern calls for cardboard or plastic canvas to be covered with lining material and simply added to the bottom of the bag.  I like the idea of plastic canvas a lot better than cardboard.  It's tougher and more washable.

Finally, the purse is complete.  Come back next time for a new project!

Purse with Hungarian Style Embroidery Part 2

 This is the second of a three part series on constructing this purse accented with Hungarian style embroidery.  The first part discussed the embroidery.  With that done, we are ready to move on to assembling the outer shell of the handbag.

Before sewing the front band back together, it is best to add the attachment points for the handles.  This is where I got in trouble for changing the materials used.  The pattern calls for attachment points shaped like a bottle.

The idea is that you sew two of these together and then turn it right side out for a clean, finished look.  The only problem is that when I tried this, I got this Epic Fail:

It was clear that a completely different solution was required, but keeping the same general size and shape was required to keep the purse looking balanced.  I made little straps by cutting a 12" by 2" strip from the blue fabric.  This got folded lenghwise down middle, then the edges got folded in.  Add edge stitching on both sides and you have a nice narrow strap, very much like a belt loop.  This was then cut into 4 pieces 3" long.  Then I cut 1.5" squares from the left over heavy interfacing I used for the main body of the purse and 2" squares of the blue fabric.  The blue fabric was wrapped around the interfacing and the strap and D-ring added.  Here's one ready to stitch:

I sewed around the whole square once to that it would hold together as a unit, then I attached it to the purse front and back, stitching over the first stitching and giving it an X pattern for extra strength.  The D-ring loop is secured by the X stitching, too.

The magnetic snaps that hold together the top of the bag at the ends should be added next, and then the front and back can be sewn together.  At this point, it starts to look like a purse.

The handles aren't attached until later, but they can be prepared now.  As with the D-ring attachment points, the pattern's plan of making a narrow tube and then inverting it wasn't going to work, particularly with interfacing in the handles.  I constructed the handles in much the same way as the straps for the D-rings.  The two sides of the handles are different colors.  The first step is to sew the two sides together long one edge.  Then, fold in 5'8" on each side and stitch.  Here's a picture of folding in the seam allowance and pressing.

Here's the handles, all pinned up and ready to be top stitched on edges.

Finally, the handles, all stitched.

You could certainly stop here, but decorative stitching can be so much fun and many machines have quite a selection of built in stitches to choose from.  The handles, with two layers of fabric and interfacing are a good base for all kinds of decorative stitching.  I chose a floral pattern, to keep the theme from the embroidery.  I also used thread from the embroidery to tie it together with color.  I used orange on top and red in the bobbin.  Stitching on the blue side, the finished product looks like this:

Be sure to catch part 3 of this series, where I construct the lining and finish the purse.

Purse With Hungarian Style Embroidery Part 1

Purses are a fun accessory.  One nice thing about making them is that unlike clothes, they don't have to be fitted.  Pattern alterations are never necessary.  However, there are lots of fun changes you can make to a basic pattern to better suit your taste or intended use.

This purse was made using McCall's 7369.  I mostly used View A, but there were some pretty extensive modifications to the pattern.  The pattern calls suggests that the purses be made of pre-quilted fabrics, with lightweight cotton fabrics as contrast.  I've had good success making purses from microsuede.  This 100% polyester fabric is fairly easy to work with, quite tough, and best of all, goes through the laundry well.  We all know that purses end up in all kinds of places and can pick up some pretty nasty stuff.  Would it be nice to just toss them in the washing machine periodically?  With some care in choosing materials, that's very possible.  This purse is made with dark green and contrasting dark blue microsuede.  The lining is polyester/cotton broadcloth, a remarkably tough material.

Rather than use a decorative band of contrasting material, I chose to decorate the purse with embroidery.  With the right stabilizer, microsuede can take even rather dense embroidery designs.  I chose the Zala Flower Spray from Embroidery Library in the 9" x 4" size.  This size allows the design to be nicely centered on each side of the purse.

I used a 100% sized print of the design to select the exact location for the embroidery.  It's not centered on the panel.   I placed the attachment points for the handles on the piece before selecting the where to put the embroidery.  Particularly in the contrasting fabric, the attachment points reduce the apparent height of the purse.   

Selection of the embroidery thread is important to the success of the project.  Traditional Hungarian embroidery uses fairly bright, saturated colors.  I chose to use red, yellow, and orange matching the recommendations from Embroidery Library.  However, the purple and blue had to be just a shade lighter so they'd contrast well with the background.  The greens had to go a lot lighter than the original design.  I like to collect all of the threads together and lay them as a group on the fabric in natural light to see how well they work together.

For an embroidery like this, a proper stabilizer is critical.  Done properly, the stabilizer can also act as an interfacing for the whole purse.  Previously, I'd used a nice cut away stabilizer for applications like this, but stabilizers don't generally come in wide enough widths to be the interfacing for a purse this large.  I found a craft weight sew-in interfacing that was the right weight.  Using the interfacing as the embroidery stabilizer does help bond the two, a real advantage.  

Here's the machine, all ready to start the embroidery.  All the thread spools are lighted up in order, ready for thread changes.

In Part 2, I'll show you how the embroidered pieces got crafted into a purse shell and Part 3 will show the lining and finishing.