The Sugar and Spice Bag is Very Nice!

 

A long time ago (at least a year, which seems like forever!) I ran across an awesome purse pattern that was only available from Homespun magazine in Australia.  I really wanted to try it, but didn't want to sign up for the $$$$ shipping and subscription.  Fortunately I am part of a great group of quilting ladies on facebook and one of them happens to live in Australia AND her mom had a copy of that same magazine that she was willing to ship to me.  I almost passed out when I saw the shipping, but the magazine was amazing.  The purse was Sugar and Spice by ChrisW designs, and now you can actually buy the pdf without having an amazing friend in Australia!  Before I got a chance to make the bag, I was distracted by some other cute projects in the magazine, which led to making a super cute fox for my oldest and eventually a penguin, but that is a story for another post!

(Slightly distorted picture because it's stuffed full of everything!)

Last week I finally decided to make the purse since I wanted to make something that would hold my NCW a little easier, and was in my favorite colors.  I love my Uptown Girl purse, but I wear a lot of purples and blues and besides, I don't have a purse of my own with embroidery on it yet!

 

(Dragon in sunlight)

This purse took a while to find the right embroidery that would somewhat match the pattern of the fabric I had been hoarding, er, saving for a special project.  I do love Celtic designs, so finding a set with dragons, unicorns, and dolphins seemed like a sign that it was meant to be.  My first attempt at the embroidery turned out ok, but then I cut it off center (DOH!!) and decided to redo it with colors that matched slightly better.

(The right side is my first attempt, which wasn't bad, but it was a little TOO off centered. I like the pastel version more, it matches better!)

I haven't really used piping before, but I did find that switching to the zipper foot made a world of difference!  (Wow, it's like the designer knew what she was doing! :D )  I left off the bottom piping since I chose white and I figured that was just ASKING for dirt to find me.  I also changed the fusible fleece for headliner foam to give it even more structure, and added a zipper inside because every purse needs a zipper!

 

(Front, has 2 slip pockets)

(Back, 2 more pockets)

(Inside, with my pirate bunny NCW inside, along with all the other stuff I HAVE to carry!)

(Sneaky inside zipper, it's hidden unless you lift the outer zipper!)