From dress to purse

Hello, my name is Sarah, and I have an addiction to buying random things at thrift stores. (“Hello, Sarah”) I have at least 5 items in my thrift store “cut up and repurpose” pile and I just bought a dress for $2 the other day for a new summer purse. Whoops.

This purse began life as a beautiful gray 100% wool dress about 8 sizes too big for me. And no, I’m not exaggerating. But I couldn't leave so much nice fabric for such a good price. Usually, I don't favor gray, but this fabric called to me and told me that it wanted to be a purse. And who am I to deny? :-)

The pattern is McCalls 6977, view A. It came together well with no problems that I recall. The bow on the front took quite a lot of the fabric, more than I expected. But with some clever placing of the pattern pieces, I made it all fit. All the layers of wool and interfacing in the bow is so heavy however, that the purse is very front-heavy and it likes to flop forward. But that's a minor issue.

The lining is a light lavender floral quilting fabric from Joann Fabrics. It took me a while to decide on a lining, but I'm happy with it. I am a huge fan of fun and fancy printed linings. Why use black when you can use pretty purple flowers?

I like the magnetic snaps on the side. It’s more like a tote, but when you close the sides, the opening top is smaller and you are less likely to lose stuff. It’s a nice shape. Maybe a hair too big, but it’s not too heavy. And gray is very versatile for many different occasions and different outfits.

Thanks for reading!

Comments

Bow-Tie Necklet

Are you, dear reader, in the mood for some winter accessories? Or, like me, are you already anxious for spring to arrive? The only good thing about winter is the cute accessories, I always say. I have a big canvas basket full of scarves, gloves, mittens, and hats. I have a black and also a purple peacoat. Plus my dramatic leopard print fleece cape, which I have previously discussed. Simply put, I don't like to be boring with my accessorizing. It is my only source of cheer and happiness when preparing for a cold winter's day. Ok, enough with the dramatics. On with the subject of today's blog. I knit this up several years ago. This is what the pattern calls a “Bow-Tie Necklet”. It is a scarf, but not in a traditional long rectangle shape. One end is pulled through a loop on the opposite side, forming a sort of bow tie. I have seen several examples in mid century photos of similar knit scarves that seem to have been made the same way. Of course, I forgot to save them/

Disney's The Little Mermaid - Ariel's Blue Dress

Anyone who has spent more than 3 minutes with me knows I'm obsessed with Disney. My three favorite movies are Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Aladdin. So for Halloween 2011, I made a version of Ariel's blue dress. She wears during "Kiss the Girl" scene and when they are riding in the carriage around Eric's kingdom. . It was fairly easy to make. I used McCall's 4090 (View A), a simple skirt with a waistband. For the bodice/over corset, I used another McCall's, 4861 (view A). I didn't want side lacing, so I just traced each of the four pieces separately, then taped them together at the sides, overlapping the seam allowance. This left me with the back lacing only. When it was assembled, I roughly "eye-balled" the sweetheart-shaped neckline and cut it out. The shirt was made with Simplicity 3677. I just added cuffs to the sleeves instead of elastic. A couple things I lea

Reconstructing History RH017

This is review of RH017, 14th Century Kirtle or Cotehardie. (Link to buy this patten at the end) I ordered it to make a new dress for the 2015 Medieval Fair of Norman. I had been playing a princess for many years, but decided on changing it up this year. I wanted to be a Bard, a poet/singer/general performer. Naturally, I could not wear the Princess gowns of years past. It came in a timely fashion. I knew it had a booklet of historical notes, I didn't know it was going to come with a textbook! Seriously, this booklet is 15 pages long (including historical notes, bibliography, actual construction, and a section on period stiches) and is in an easy to digest format. The pattern is on regular paper, not the usual tissue paper, which I appreciated. I had trouble with setting the sleeves, but it was my own fault. I made it oversized purposefully to adjust down to my exact size, and didn't quite adjust the sleeves to match correctly the first time. My own fault. I will post

The Singing Costumer

Search This Blog