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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

From Thrift Store Sweater to Oh-So-Cute Bag

My sister told me she wanted a sweater bag. She is in the full-time ministry and I knew just what kind of bag she needed. So, I ran to Goodwill and found this awesome striped sweater. I didn't have a pattern. I just knew what she wanted and got busy. (Sorry. I don't have photos of all of the stages of construction.) I dug through my fabric stash and found a fun purple fabric for the liner. I decided that I wanted to make this as simply as possible, so I planned accordingly. First, I measured the sweater to see what was usable in open space, without seams. This measurement included two inches on each side and also to the bottom. I cut a 2" square out of the lower corners to form the sides and bottom. I cut four of this shape out of a firm fusible interfacing and two out of the purple liner. I cut the sweater up the sides and laid one of the fusible pieces on the front and the back, lining up the stripes exactly. I fused that together and cut it out. That one step, fusing the interfacing to the sweater, made a WORLD of difference when I went to sew this together!! I made the liner first. I fused the interfacing to the lining fabric. I cut out a pocket and made a zipper welt pocket for all her loose items. Then I made a lined pocket for the other side. If I had pictures, I would elaborate more on that. I was so into the groove of sewing that I totally forgot to photograph it. The handles were a royal pain in the rear and I got so frustrated (well, George was here and being mean!) that Jason said, "Babe, just walk away." That's hard for me to do when I am right in the middle of creating something. This is especially the case when it is something made from scratch since my mind and plans are not on paper but in my jumbled head. But I took his advise and left it. This morning, I got started again even though my back and neck were aching like crazy. (I already did the whining in my earlier post, so I'll stop now.) Okay, so I got back to the handles. I only had two sleeves, and I had completely messed one up earlier...thus the frustration.(Picture it flying across the room...cause that's what happened.) So, it was back to the drawing board. I got those made finally. They actually turned out awesome! Once I sewed the whole thing together I was happy, but it was missing something. I looked at the turtleneck from the sweater and decided I needed a flower for the bag. I made that and stitched it with a large round button topped with a faceted purple button. Tell me what you think! And since George returned and beat me up again, Jason surprised me with a huge selection of sugary sweetness...and a Slim Jim! LOL

6 comments:

  1. 1. I'm coming over for chocolate!
    2. LOVE the bag...ADORABLE!
    3. I love you and I'm sorry you aren't feeling well.

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  2. Thanks, chica! The chocolate is here and ready. What I really want is brownies, though! Really chewy, nutty brownies. OOOOhhh!

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  3. Nice job!!!
    Bet ya your sister loves it!

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  4. Thats awesome! My daughter would love it! Well done.

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  5. I love it, too! It's just what I wanted. Thanks, sis. ;)

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