All By Myself

Awhile ago I posted about a purse pattern I found and put together "with" my mom.  I sewed the zipper in that one and watched while the master did her thing for the rest of it.  I told her I would be making the next one all by myself.  I think we both knew without verbally acknowledging it that the next purse would involve mom either sitting beside me holding my hand through it, or about a dozen phone calls.

Well, I am happy to report that I finished the second purse last night.  Mom wasn't anywhere near our home.  AND...I only had to call her one time to see if a zipper foot was absolutely necessary to sew on a zipper and if so, what did it look like.  And that was really because I was lazy and didn't want to walk downstairs to get my machine's instruction book.

I started the purse last week and was really going to town.  I was bored and couldn't paint because Mike was sanding our laundry room stuff.  For some reason my sewing mojo was at it's prime and I was cruising along.  I got to the zipper part and went to pull out the zipper I had already purchased and couldn't find it anywhere.  I was incredibly bummed because 1) I was hoping to finish this purse by midnight as a personal goal and 2) sewing fairies were there with me that night; I wasn't sure they were coming back if I stopped.  I bought a zipper the next day but didn't get a chance to work on it until last night.

I can't get the colors quite right on this picture, but I love this fabric.  And nary a pucker in sight.  Did I mention my mom was NOT here???  The only problem with it is that the directions I was reading didn't tell me to make the inside bag a little bit smaller than the outside so its a little cramped on the inside.  I DID remember the interfacing to stiffen the sides though and that made a world of difference!

And the zipper?  Too short.  That was one of those "make it work" moments that my mom dreads me saying.

As for the other zipper lying somewhere neglected in my house?  When I find it I'll be making another purse.  This really wasn't difficult!  Maddie saw it this morning and said she'd even like to try sewing one!