Mary's September Finish

Finished bag.

My September Project (#9 on my 2018 Forward Progress list) was my floral shopper. I finished the project, though not exactly as the pattern indicated. I was not impressed with the way the pattern put the bag together and I made a number of changes in the construction method and ultimately the design. It was supposed to be a shopper that folded up and went in a little bag. The bag was WAY too little to hold the shopper and the handles were too short to be comfortable to carry. I abandoned the little bag all together and I added an extra strap to the top of the handles to make it possible to carry this over my shoulder. I also added a pocket. The flowered fabric used to be a skirt and I was able to reuse the button hole from the waistband of the skirt on the pocket. 

Pocket added, using the skirt's buttonhole

Summer Literary Sewing Circle

Mermaid Purse, 2018

The Summer Literary Sewing Circle, hosted at Following the Thread, focused on the novel The New Moon's Arms which I wrote about over at bibliographic manifestations. For my project I was inspired by the mermaid element of the novel and decided to make a purse with a mermaid theme. I went to the fabric store and found a beautiful blue and teal mermaid fabric and a dark swirly grey. The grey is much more in the tone of the novel, there is a lot of swirling angst in the characters lives, than the mermaid fabric was. However, the mermaid fabric has a magical quality which was definitely part of this novel. I enhanced the magical-sparkly element by adding beads to all the stars on the mermaid fabric on the purse flap and using a fused-glass button that I bought many years ago at a craft festival and had not found a home for until now.

Detail of iridescent beads on stars

The body of the purse is quilted with variegated blue thread in a wave pattern and for the lining I used a pale blue fabric I had leftover from the background of the memorial quilt for my mom. The bag pattern is one I developed and have made many times (including a flowered version). It has 2 pockets inside and one on the back (from the grey fabric). 

I almost made the deadline (which was Friday) on this.

Mary's Forward Progress May/June

Completed Tardis Skirt

My project for May was my tardis skirt which I did finish. I even finished it in May (just barely). I have worn it twice since then and am very pleased with how it turned out.
The Number for June was 8 which on my forward progress list is book purses. I have an assortment of book-themed fabric which I want to turn into small purses and perhaps some humbug bags for my Etsy shop. The very next step I need to take to move this project forward is to decide which fabrics go together best into purses and cut the appropriate pieces to make purses/humbug bags.

Book purses project at start of June 2017

Done: Two Purses

I am hoping to open an Etsy shop in 2015 and am working on making things to stock it. These 2 purses are for that. One has green lining and a curved flap and the other has a blue lining with a square flap. The bag is a design I came up with several years ago and have made lots of over the years. There is a pocket on the back, one under the front flap, and two inside. It is the same design as the flowered purse I made for my niece this past summer. 

This is one of the projects on my Q4 list for the Finish Along at The Littlest Thistle.

Done: Flowered Purse

Flowered purse, my own 

I made this purse, from an original design I have made many times, as a present for my niece. It is a messenger-bag-type design with 3 pockets (one inside, one under the flap, and one on the back). I make the handles really long and then tie a loop in them so the bag can be slung across you or carried on your shoulder. I also find that the tied loop is handy for hanging the bag on a hook (like the ones on restroom doors).
This is one of the projects on my Q3 list for the Finish Along at The Littlest Thistle.

There is a pocket on the back

Flap secures with a velcro dot
and there is a pocket under the flap

Loop-de-loop quilting in purple
and teal variegated thread
covers the body of the purse

Handbags as Images

I am working on setting up an Etsy shop and to begin with am researching (aka exploring) all sorts of stuff that goes into that.

One of the skills I need to work on is photography. Particularly I am trying to figure out how to compose good pictures of items I will have for sale in my shop. Lighting seems to be key as well as attractive, simple backgrounds. I spent some time recently looking at Etsy shops that have handbags for sale (one of the main things I expect to sell in my shop) and assembled a treasury of Quilted Handbags that I thought were well photographed. 

Which images do you think work best? Why? Please share your thoughts in the comments.