Monday, January 23, 2006

Purse Power

Crocheted Tote - Smile Yarn and Aunt Lydia's
I bought this used book over the weekend "Handbags: The Power of the Purse" by Anna Johnson (2002). It's one of those little books about the history of the handbag, with tons of excellent photographs. There are sections on classic bags by Fendi, Gucci, Hermes, etc., a section on novelty handbags, American classics, ornamental and decorated bags, sculptural bags, etc. It contains a wealth of information on one of my alltime obsessions.....purses!
Over the years I've crocheted and knitted tons of handbags, including granny square bags, felted bags, soutache clutches, totes, etc. There is something very satisfying about creating something so useful.
My latest foray into bag making is a crocheted tote made from Smile Yarn and Aunt Lydia's Rug Yarn with a little acrylic from my stash thrown in. I cut some plastic canvas for the bottom of the bag and then took a tip from Lady Linoleum and crocheted a lining for the bag instead of sewing in a fabric lining. The handles are some that I'd purchased at the Knit Cafe years ago....finally put to use! I added an inner pocket for my cellphone, a loop at the top with a plain button for closure. This project probably took about 4 or 5 hours to complete...love that!

Labels:

4 Comments:

At 2:25 PM PST, Blogger DarcyArtsy said...

So cute and I might even be able to make it and When I finish pink blankie #57, I'm all over it.

 
At 2:06 PM PST, Blogger Lori said...

Looks great Ellen! How did you do the crocheted lining? Did you crochet a separate piece and then crochet it to the outside or did you pick up individual stitches from the wrong side of the outside? I'd love to hear how you did it because I hate sewing in liners!

 
At 3:43 PM PST, Blogger Ellen Bloom said...

Hi Lori! I'll bring the purse with me to the WeHo SnB meeting on Thursday. I turned the purse inside out and just attached my interior yarn to the bottom of the piece and started crocheting in the round until my 'lining' was the same size, then attached it with a single crochet. Regina gave me the idea with her 'turkey purse'.

 
At 11:06 AM PST, Blogger LadyLinoleum said...

Crocheted lining is good, no?

 

Post a Comment

<< Home

Hiren's BootCD
hard drive recovery