Skip to main content

Cowgirl Up!

Hot off the sewing machine is my latest project - the Barbados bag by Pink Sand Beach Designs. My local quilt shop in Twisp had some great western themed fabric that I chose to use.

This pattern, while it turned out a nice product, was a PITA to follow. Sorry PSBD, but it needs some work.  I had several instances where I pinned the seam to simulate sewing before doing the actual stitching because the directions did not make sense or seem to match the accompanying photos.

I do like the bag however. It has an outside zip pocket, another front pocket behind it, two pockets on the back, and two pockets inside the fully lined interior. It is a nice size, too. The finished size is 10" wide by 10-1/2" tall.

I still need to finish the zipper pulls. Think I'll hit up a craft shop back in MN for something decorative. Otherwise the fall back idea is to take a piece of leather lacing and make zipper pulls out it .

Front of Purse
Back of purse with two pockets
Interior of purse
Now that I know how it all is sewn together, I also bought some batik fabrics to make one up. A girl can never have too many purses, right?

Fabrics used: Round Up and Cowboy Gear I Spy by Blank Quilting, and Bunk House Bandana Real Red.

Comments

Popular Posts

A New Dust Cover For My Handi Quilter Machine

I have been using a sheet as a dust cover on my Handi Quilter HQ16 longarm machine. Not pretty, but it did the job. The other day I was shopping at my local quilt store and she had a bolt of fabric that called to me and said, "Hey! I would make a great cover for your longarm machine." The fabric pattern is called Laugh Love Quilt by Amy Hamberlin for Henry Glass Fabrics. I knew there was a free download pattern on the Handi Quilt website so I checked to see how much yardage I would need before leaving the store. The pattern is for their Avante 18 (they also include info for the Fusion 24). They also include a pattern size if your machine has the Prostitcher--mine does not. The HQ instructions are really brief and not very informative. There are not many pictures of completed covers to give an idea on what the finished product is like. I found a couple of blog posts for the sit down version covers that were somewhat helpful. Otherwise I would be on my own. I would nee

Pincushion with Thread Catcher Bag

I have been wanting to make my own pincushion and thread catcher bag for a while now. My mom gave me one awhile back but I have seem to have lost it in moving. The patterns I saw online just weren't what I wanted so it was time to come up with my own. I used the pattern posted at Sew Mama Sew! as my starting point. It wasn't exactly what I wanted but it was close. I didn't need the organizer part nor that large of a pincushion. I did like how the bag was removable however. On the other hand, I wanted the "cuff" of the bag to be on the outside so it would make it easier to empty the bag. I didn't want threads getting caught under the "lip" of the fabric. With some modifications, here is what I came up with. The only piece that I ended up purchasing was the button. Everything else was scraps I had on hand or found around the house. I probably could have found an old button but I saw this one at my local quilt shop and thought it would be perfec

No Sew Fringe Vest

Hey! Wait a minute! Isn't this blog about sewing? Why yes it is. But sometimes "projects" happen where sewing isn't needed. But it sure helps to have sewing and quilting tools. I need a costume for a 60's themed BBQ (where social distancing will be practiced). I looked for ideas online and saw where I could purchase a costume for $$. Why would I do that if I could make my own? I decided I needed a fringed vest as part of my outfit. Hmmmm...yeah, I could make one out of my fabric stash, but that is mostly cottons and I felt not suitable for what I was thinking. I ended up purchasing a men's black sleeveless t-shirt from Wally World for under $5. Purchased Shirt I laid out the t-shirt on my cutting table, face up, and smoothed out the wrinkles as best I could. I took a strip of 1" blue masking tape and placed it on the shirt just below the arm holes. This would be my stopping line when cutting the fringe. Using my 24" ruler and rotary cutte