another cute little purse

Here's another purse from the same pattern as this one. But this time it's for me! I have been finding more time to do my sewing lately since our storage room has become my crafting room. A friend gave me a big table that fits the width of the room perfect. It has been so nice to start a project and leave it all laying out until it's done and to be able to sneak in there for a half hour here or there. I've also been tackling my scrapbooking supplies over the past few days and now I can finally see what I all have and will hopefully get some of this caught up too this year. The room has a bunch of shelves that were already there - so they are all filled up now and organized - it's definitely a big motivator to start on new projects when you can see everything.

And an update on Brad: he had his surgery this morning and everything went really well. When I went to pick him up he looked so great - a huge difference from his similar surgery seven years ago! He came home only three hours after surgery, was super hungry since he hadn't eaten yet today and he is now in bed having a nice long nap. I'm starting to get excited now about having him off work for the next 3-4 weeks. It will be so nice to spend quality time with him - he can't run off and play golf or work on anything in the house. It also might give me a chance to run an errand here or there or do groceries without taking all three kids with me. Alyssa will definitely be joined to my hip during the recovery since Brad will NOT be able to pick her up, but I should be able to leave the older two with him here or there.

new coat and new purse . . .

Did I mention I love Ebay? I have been wanting to get a new wool coat for quite some time now but couldn't find the right fit or the right price. I found one on Ebay that I loved but was a little hesitant because of worries about sizing and quality issues. After much contemplating I finally decided to go for it since it was such a great deal and I had to find something good to spend some birthday money on. It came today and I LOVE it! And it is much nicer in person than photographed.
I also went back to my sewing room today and sewed up this purse for myself. I know it has its' flaws but I'm still quite happy with it. It will nicely replace my current everyday purse which has holes in the lining. I'm hoping to get better at this purse sewing thing since I love doing it and hate buying purses that break on me.

a cute purse

Well I went back to the sewing room in an attempt to make something I was happy with - and this is what I came out with. I used this tutorial which is super fast and easy and I'm very happy with the finished product. This purse will be going to my younger sister - since the fabric was actually bought by her and left over from another project. I think it's a great size and hope to make myself one too!

my new bag

I've been wanting to make this pattern for awhile and finally got around to it. I'm not as happy as I thought I would be - I would have made it narrower for this type of handle and definitely would have tried to find a stiffer lining. So I may just take it apart to make it narrower but I'll leave it for now and maybe try it out once or twice before I pull it apart.

my new fabrics

These are the fabrics that I picked up recently:

And this is the quilt design that I'm thinking of using for them:

And of course, I'll include a pic of the kiddos for Gramma - here they are snuggling in the rag blankets I made for them.