The Purple Purse

Here is a fancy purse that I made using directions from the Needle-Felting Magic book by Margo Duke.

Hers was green and blue. I used purples and blue-greens because I happened to have three yards of hand-dyed silk ribbon in those shades to use as embellishment. You can see the ribbon going diagonally down the purse, and also used to make ribbon rosettes.

This one has a muslin base, to which I needle-punched fabrics in my color combination. All the raw edges then have yarn or roving needle-felted down. Then the fun of adding yarn pinwheels and other embellishments.

Then you have to do some machine-quilting, which I did in a shiny magenta rayon thread, with lots of swirls and floral motifs. After that, some beading and some larger ribbon flowers were done by hand.

Like every purse and bag pattern I have tried, I had some problems with these instructions. Namely: how to put in the magnetic snap. The snap package says "See pattern directions." The pattern directions were not specific enough for me. Which way are you supposed to bend the prongs? In toward the snap, or out? And are you supposed to put in the bracket-looking metal piece that came with it? I didn't.

This bag has a bright pink swirly cotton lining and a purple pocket in three sections. One is large enough for my cell phone.

I really enjoyed making this purse and will probably make another. Next time I will know not to bead and embellish all the way to the edge of the base fabric, because when you cut out the purse pattern, some of the extra stuff is too close to the bottom or seam. And I would move the snap up higher because it is right above the pocket.

I'm also not too sure about all that extra roving hanging from the edge of the strap. Should I whack it off?

I will probably keep this purse for myself, since I have several purple items in my wardrobe, but will probably make some more.

Embellishing Fun

During this week, when the weather outside was cold and wintry, I spent a couple of afternoons entertaining myself with my Babylock Embellisher machine. I finished two small art quilts that I began right after Christmas.

I definitely was imagining a warmer place and time...

The first of these is called "Tropical Waters." I remember being in Nassau and watching each wave roll in, and admiring all the shades of blue and green.

Tropical Waters, 2009, 6" x 6"

The fibers include silk tussah tops, wool roving, Angelina, Tinzel, Dupioni silk, and cotton. I actually incorporated an old experiment in making fantasy fabric with water-soluble stabilizer and stitching together. After needle-felting the top together, I took it to my Bernina and quilted swirly waves. I added some tiny seed beads to the waves, surf, and sand for additional shine. The border is zigzagged with a silver thread that also has a little silk roving tucked in.

Tropical Waters, details

The next piece is very similar, but I added yarns to make a tropical island. I have never been to a tropical island with mountains rising practically from the shore, but I can imagine one! This one has a bit of dimension at the edge of the beach to represent shrubbery. OK, I should have started quilting in the center, because the fibers bulged up, but didn't that add a design element?

Tropical Island, 2009, 6" x 8"

Then, I decided to try a project from the book Needle-Felting Magic by Margo Duke. This brooch includes chiffon and silk from the two scarves I purchased last weekend, some silk sari ribbon with a silver glitter stripe, some yarns and ribbons, a little glitter glue, some shiny beads, and a few of those charms I made from shrink plastic last summer. It is a little over three inches in diameter.

Valentine Brooch, 2009

All of these pieces will be for sale in my Etsy shop soon. I can't decide how to hang the little quilts. I am considering mounting them to stretched artist canvas, but am toying with mounting on Plexiglas.

Help from Her Majesty

Today my new book arrived: Needle-Felting Magic by Margo Duke. I have been subscribing to a Yahoo Needle-felting group in which Margo is dubbed "Her Majesty Margo."

I love the chapter subtitles (My Journey to Bliss, An Invitation to Play). There is a "Bag Fit for a Queen" that I would love to try.

Finally, a guide for me to discover what I can do with this new embellishing machine. All this fiber stuff is still relatively new to me.

I can' t wait to try out some of these new projects!