Tuesday, 3 August 2004
The Coffee Snob Purse -- Posted by Katxena
I made this for my friend R, who's wonderful contradictions make her interesting. One of those contradictions is that she loves coffee shops but hates coffee. I thought it would be fun to make her a coffee purse -- so I found the perfect fabric, and The Coffee Snob was born:
The purse is what I think of as a rectangle-and-gusset pattern -- it's two rectangles for the front and the back, joined by one long skinny rectangle that forms a gusset. This is the same basic construction I used on The Helpful Tote, however, I changed the dimensions so that the bag would be more purse-like. I also added a facing (is it called that on a purse? that's what it would be called on a garment) to the top inside of the bag, so that there's a bit of the patterned fabric on the inside (I don't think I did that on Helpful, but I can't quite remember). The lining is a solid light-chocolate color that matches quite nicely.
The fun part of this purse, for me, was the gusset. When I first bought this fabric, I thought I would use the part of the design that looks like a line of S's for the gusset. But then I noticed something when I ironed the fabric:
The S's are not evenly centered between the rows of coffee cups. This meant that if I used that part of the design as is, I would either have to have a narrow gusset to center the S's, or the S's on the gusset would be off-center. I didn't want a gusset that narrow, and I thought it would look like a mistake if they were off-center, so I rejected both those options. The problem was, there was no other part of the design that would make a decent looking gusset -- so I took matters into my own hands.
I cut two long strips of the S's, split them both in half, and then joined them so that I had a long, symmetrical strip to use for the gusset:
You can see a slight bobble in the picture where my sewing was off, but in spite of a few goofs like that, I think the end result is much nicer than it would have been otherwise.
8 comment(s).
awesome purse K- you did a wonderful job-I think it turned out perfectly and I am sure your friend will be delighted. How thoughtful of you.
Quilty comment by Cher on 3 August 2004
I love this! What a brilliant way to use the fabric. The splitting of the row of S's is genius! Your friend sounds like fun and I am sure she will love this purse.
Quilty comment by Janine on 4 August 2004
What a great bag. That was so creative to split the s fabric.
Laura
allthingslovely.blogspot.com
Quilty comment by Laura on 4 August 2004
Great bags and totes!!! Would you tell us again what interfacing you use to give them some body.
Quilty comment by Mary on 15 August 2004
Mary -- the entry I wrote about interfacing is here.
I still haven't given this purse to my friend -- I want to give another friend a purse at the same time, and I haven't finished that purse yet -- I'd better get to work.
Quilty comment by Katxena on 16 August 2004
where did you find such neat fabric for this cool purse that all coffee lovers must have to state their style.
Quilty comment by beverly on 23 August 2004
I don't know where Katxena found the fabric, but I saw it while flipping through a Hancock's catalog the other day. Here's a direct link.
Quilty comment by Lyn on 24 August 2004
Add a comment...I found it at the most amazing fabric store on the planet -- G Street Fabrics, in Rockville MD. I really like a lot of the Timeless Treasures fabrics.
Quilty comment by Katxena on 24 August 2004
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