SWEATER PURSE

My Sweater Purse is finally finished and I'm loving it. Looking back to my post of February 10, 2008 - has it been almost a whole year? - I see that I'd inadvertantly

shrunk the Eileen Fisher sweater, then since it didn't fit anymore, shrunk it again on
purpose. Then I looked at it for a year, thinking about how I was going to make this
purse. What I did was use a large embroidery needle (bodkin) and some heavy duty
carpet thread and stitch up the bottom of the sweater. Next I cut off the buttons and
sewed up the front of the sweater. Then came the big step. Cutting off the sleeves.
Once this was done, the shape could be ruined, but I did it, using my new Gingher scissors (which I love, and which are worth it after all). Now I had to sew up the
armholes, but in a way that would keep the sides of the bag looking smooth. This
took some doing, and even now, it's a little bumpy. Which enhances the home-made-
ness, right? Almost there. I sewed the buttons back on where they looked good, and
cut one of the sleeves into strips. Sewed the two strips together on the short side,
and attached them to the bag inside the collar.
I had some blue on cream cotton toile fabric that I'd gotten through Freecycle, and
sewed that into a lining with a zipper. Carried the purse a few days. Couldn't stand
my zipper closure. It was a pain to get into the purse. Took out the lining, cut off
the zipper, and re-inserted the lining without a protective top. I just have to be
constantly careful to not let everything spill out of the purse. Today I'll go to Hancock
Fabrics, where notions are 50% off in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, and I'll buy
some of those magnetic snaps.