Finished my Purse!

I've made a purse to match my 6-PAC and finished it just this morning.  But I guess I'd better back up a bit.  I haven't said anything about the 6-PAC yet. 

After finding the challenge for the SWAP I mentioned earlier, I joined the Sewing forum website I was talking about.  They steered me to a different challenge that's not quite so involved.  They call it the 6-PAC.  Originally it meant 6 Piece Autumn Collection, but now they do one every season.  I decided to do it instead for this first time.

I'm using black and pink for my color scheme.  Usually, the idea is to do a 3-piece wardrober type bit in a neutral color--pants, skirt, jacket--or a dress, and then finish it out with blouses and other items to coordinate.  I've chosen not to do pants as I already have a lot of black pants.  So far, I've made a black skirt, a pink floral blouse, a pink jacket, a black jersey shell, and a black jersey cardigan.  Unfortunately, I don't like the cardigan and so I gave it to my daughter.  She loves it though, so not a waste of time.  I've got two more pieces of pink fabric that I want to make blouses out of and I think I want to redo the cardigan.  I've found a pattern for a waterfall jacket that I really like.  I also have a long duster-style jacket that I started a long time ago and never finished.  I'm going to finish it as well, so this is going to turn out a little more than a 6-pac, but should be a great shot in the arm to my wardrobe.

From the leftovers of the duster and the pink jacket, I've made tote-style purse.  I like the way it turned out.  Its not perfect, but I've learned a lot of lessons from it, so again, not a waste of time.  In fact, I like it enough to use it.

One of the things I learned is the value of basting your layers together.  I had to sew the bottom corner seams three times each because I kept missing the outer fabric layer. 

So, here's the finished product.  You can't see it, but there's a tassel hanging from the little flower on the closure tab.

One of the things I learned: How to put in purse feet. As you can see, they're not perfectly straight. The ones on the left need to come in a little.








The outside purse is sewn to the inside section to make pockets. The one in the back is big enough to hold my iPad.

 

  Closeup of the closure tab inside, showing the magnetic snap closure, another of the things I learned how to do. 

 side view showing the tassel on the closure.

This pocket turned out especially small.  I could barely squeeze my gloves into it.

Sure Fit Update

Well, I've had my Sure-Fit Designs kit for a couple of weeks now.  I got a muslin made and, for the most part, it fits very well.  It was a bit confusing to draw; the bust darts still aren't right.  I need to shorten the side bust dart, first of all.  Then there was this chunk of space above the dart and under the sleeve where there wasn't enough fabric--not sure what I did there, but that's got to be figured out and redrawn and then I still have all of the skirt fitting to do.

I'm not sure it was worth the $100 I spent on it.  At the same time I was doing this, I found the website for Silhouette Patterns.  She has a lot of free webcasts (once every two weeks going back a couple of years, I think).  They are very informative.  I believe I've learned more about pattern fitting from watching her (did I mention they were FREE) webcasts than I have from the Sure Fit Kit. 

Between the two, however, I was able to adjust some patterns that I already had and actually make them fit.  (This is a first in decades!) So far, I've made a jacket and two tops.  I intend to make another jacket/cardigan, two more tops, and a dress.  I have several other pieces of fabric I intend to sew up, but I'm not quite sure what I'm going to make with those yet.

As soon as I have pictures, I will post them here.  Since today is Labor Day, I have one more day off and I'm going to put it to use sewing.  I think I'll get on that cardigan today. Then maybe the blouses.