All seven handbags are finished and ready to go to Thanksgiving dinner with us tomorrow at Andrew's parent's home. I know! ... I can't believe it either. :)
I'd like to thank my mother-in-law (the. best. ever.) for commissioning these handbags. It was great to have the freedom to try a bunch of different and new things without having to worry if they'd sell. Because of this project, as I go forward, I'm going to be more confident in my fabric choices and embellishment designs. Thanks, Elaine!
This is handbag 1 of 7. The designs and colors in the striped lining fabric are way-crazy. It's overwhelming - in the best possible way. When I first got it, I cut a strip the length of the repeat (24 inches) and I just stared at it for days while I worked on other crafts. Each stripe is mesmerizing, ecstatic. It's every curtain, wall paper, rug, and embroidered dress I had growing up in Kansas - all rolled into one fabric.
I was tentative about making a striped bag. Especially with such a crazy color combo, but I plunged in. Then, it just seemed right to use the yarn, itself, to do the embellishments. I did a fairly simple cross-stitch-y design that echoes the fabric.
If I actually try to think about the color combination and the stitching, I start getting lost in all the colors and stripe widths, but when I just look at it, it looks *right* to me. I love it. I can't really explain why.