The Sweater Purse

Once upon a time there was a bright red chenille sweater that was deeply, deeply loved. It was loved so much, in fact, that it was loved literally to pieces. The neckband was in tatters and one of the sleeves fell off. That's right. It fell off. The lady who loved the sweater was sad and lovingly placed the pieces of her sweater into her fabric stash and waited for the right project to come along. Sadly, this was not the right project.

Okay, okay, it's not that the project was wrong for the sweater, let's be fair. This was purely user error. As much as I loved that sweater, I do not love this bag. Let's examine what went wrong, shall we?

What I Learned

• When you box the bottom of a bag, you lose that amount in height, not just width. Just so you know. But you already knew that, didn't you? And so did I, if we're being honest, I just didn't think my plan through thoroughly. Like, at all. I just whipped out my trusty rotary cutter and started hacking away with no thought and no plan. 
• If you want to have a shaped bag, don't use a deeply loved, often washed chenille sweater as your medium. Because it is soft, people, and will not hold a fancy shape! I wanted the top to be wider than the bottom, so that it was shaped like a half hexagon. What I got instead was floppiness. Floppiness! I needed to use some heavy duty Peltex to make it keep its shape, but I didn't. Because I didn't plan.
• So, since the shape didn't work out, and I didn't realize how much the shape wouldn't work until the whole bag was put together, I just pinched in the sides and whip stitched those puppies together. As you can see in the interior shot. Sad and sloppy.
• If you are going to sew with chenille, keep a lint brush and a can of compressed air near by. For two days my animals, I, and everything in my sewing room looked like we were bleeding to death from thousands of tiny pinprick wounds. It was kind of gruesome.
• Finally, if you are going to box the bottom of your bag and you're me so therefore you can't visualize the final product, baste your bottom together and then test the placement of your exterior pocket. Trust me. Otherwise your pocket will sit on the bottom of your bag and be just ridiculous! Sigh.
• Oh, okay, also? Since I'm ranting here? Once again, I am displeased with my zipper. I need to find a better way to add a zip pocket to a lining. Seriously. See all those wrinkles to the right of the zipper? They will not, absolutely will not, no matter how much I beg, iron out. Makes me nuts. 

All right, enough with the Negative Nancy. Here's what I do like about this purse. Firstly, the handles. I cannot tell you how much I love those stinkin' handles. I covered a nice thick cotton rope with fabric I cut from the sleeves of the sweater, and they turned out fabulously. They are thick and comfortable and fit in my hand like a dream. Love 'em. They were fiddly to sew together, but so worth the extra trouble. Lastly, the lining fabric. I have had that fabric in my stash for several years now, and I'm so glad I used it. Even on this bag.

You know the funny thing? After all the ranting and raving, I have started to like this bag more. I think it might be purely defensiveness - how dare I say such horrible things about that poor, innocent, slightly deformed purse! - but whatever, I might just have to love it in spite of myself.

Thanks for stopping by!