First Purse in 2008, with berries

I used the lovely pattern gifted to me by my favorite mother-in-law. I traced out the large size Prairie Girl bag. They do not give you finished measurements, which would have been helpful! This bag is a basic quilted piece of fabric and then stitched into a bag, no pockets or lining pieces to worry about. I used my hand dyed mixed berries fat quarters, I am so crazy about these colors!!!

Then I digitized a feather for the quilting and quilted in the hoop using my embroidery machine (Pfaff 2140).

you can't really see the feathers in this picture, but I promise- I got the effects I was after by using variegated thread. I did and did not use their instructions. I did the strips the way I wanted and threw caution to the wind on account of size and created my own inside lining pieces.

Using the pattern help to create the top curves, and after cutting I used the quilted outside to help create a facing for the inside of the purse. I interfaced the inside pieces and added a zipper pocket, the pattern does not.

I also made pockets to fit a cell phone and lipstick on the opposite inside piece.Then after sewing the outside and insides - sides , I did the bias strips as the instructions said, but used 3 inch bias folded in half (I found this size was much better for me to handle).

For the straps or handles I used my new favorite way - fabric covered cotton clothes line. In this picture you can see the grommets I used and the raw clothes line before covering with fabric. (safety tip!!!!! please be very careful when using a hammer to fit grommets - ask me why I know this)

For the straps I used a small (skinny) clothesline and cut two lengths the same size, ran these through the grommets and used painter tape to help hold the cut ends together (tip, put cut ends at different spots for stress) then wrapped with 1 inch strips (not bias!) I used clothes pins to hold the fabric and used a small zig-zag in the center to secure (I will do a tutorial soon on this) .

My finished size is 16 long, 12 high, 3 deep, but I am thinking that the actual finished size if you follow directions may be a bit taller, as I did not follow the directions exactly (that's me ;0) )

Will I make this again????? Maybe in the smaller size, this is a one of a kind !! A bit wide for my taste, but still a great bag. And all those Mommies out there - this would make a really GOOD mommy bag!!!!!