Purse Epiphany

Last night, in my dreams, I had a PURSE EPIPHANY. We all love knitting and crocheting purses, it's assembling the pieces, lining a handbag and adding the zipper or closure that's a pain in the neck! I finished the crocheting of that darling granny square bag (above). I could have used bucram or plastic canvas to stiffen the bag, then picked out a cute fabric for lining, but at the end of the day, when I put something on the heavy side (like my wallet) in the bag, it would look all out-of-shape, bulky and wonky and the handles would stretch out. I remembered that I had a few totes that I'd purchased at Target last year. Hmmm? Maybe I could use those totes as the interior structure of my gorgeous crocheted and knitted creations? Eureka! Ephiphany! Light bulb glowing just over my head!

Now, I have to figure out how to attach the granny square bag to the store-bought bag. I'm thinking I just might hot-glue it at the edges and then get a leather sewing needle to stitch the top border. The Target bag already has a zippered closure, pockets inside and is sturdy and dependable.

Then, I remembered that I also had this mesh tote (also purchased last year at Target). Everyone is crocheting the squares for Interweave Crochet's "Larger Than Life Bag" designed by Cecily Keim.

Again, handmade bags just don't have the durability and structure for extended use (IMHO). I've made a few practice squares for this bag and they fit perfectly between the vinyl trim on this tote! I'm going to attach the squares directly to the tote!

Practice Squares

I'm going to use yarn in the bronze color family to match the trim on the tote. I have more of the Noro Kureyon pictured above. I think this will work with a few other colors.

If I need MORE YARN, I can always go back to Black Sheep Knittery tomorrow. The incredible sale continues!!! A few of my fellow crafters at the WeHo SnB last night brought bags of yarn booty to show that they purchased for 75% off retail price! It seems that the lease is up on the Yucca St. location of Black Sheep Knittery and the owner wants to move to another location in Hollywood with more parking and easier access. Sounds good to me. See you in Hollywood this weekend!