Free Little Purse Pattern on Quilted Fish!

Happy April Fool's Day!  Have you gotten anyone with your tricks yet today?  I'm not very good at it.  My boss got me good this morning with an e-mail.  It's nice to have a boss with a sense of humor!

Well, this is no foolin!  My tutorial is posted today!  Click here to go read it!  (You can also download a PDF file of the tutorial there.  I'll also be posting the PDF file on my Tutorials tab!)  Below, I've got some photos of the finished product and different variations on it.  I hope you like it!

Are you ready for the big reveal???!!!  I'm so excited, because I have am guest blogging today over on Amanda Herring's blog, The Quilted Fish!

It all started with this...Amanda sent us some of her beautiful Sweet Divinity fabric, along with some fun buttons and crocheted flowers.  She challenged each of us to make/design something with the goodies and to write a tutorial for you.  Well, here is what I came up with!

Now, this is no foolin'! Here it is! I am so excited that this, my very first Quilted Fish tutorial, is posted today! Please go check it out!

This is a tutorial and pattern for a little purse I made for Sweet Pea to hold her Nintendo DSi that Grandma and Grandpa gave her for Christmas. 

I made the pattern and wrote the instructions.  I hope you all like them!

And don't despair!  If you don't need a DSi case, you can easily modify this to make it a small run around purse for yourself, or you could use it as a camera case or a case for your MP3 player!

I am forever indebted to Lynn (Alamosa Quilter) and Jill, who test sewed my pattern for me and gave me awesome feedback.  Thank you so much, ladies!  They also sent photos of what they created so you can see their versions of the project.  I also have yet another version of the project for you to see.

Here is Lynn's version of the case!  She made it for her son's DSi out of Pokemon fabric.  She left the strap off, since that made it too girly.

Here's the inside.  Lynn suggested that there are other ways you could make the pockets so as not to use girly lace.  I tried this and have provided some instructions this adaptation below.  Thanks for the idea, Lynn!  You can see she also used Velcro instead of a parachute buckle for her closure!

Lynn, thank you so much for giving this a go and helping me out!

And this is Jill's version.  You can see that Jill used Velcro also!

She used a cute button on the front to cover where the closure is.

Here's a photo of her sweet girl wearing it.  She had received an MP3 player for Christmas, so she's using it as a holder for that.  She is apparently enjoying it!

 

Here is another version I made.  This time, I did some machine embroidery on the flap.  To do this, I traced my flap pattern on the front flap fabric with a water soluble pen.  Then, I positioned my embroidery where I wanted it to go on the flap.  I did the embroidery and then cut out the fabric.  This way, my fabric was big enough to stay in the hoop to do the embroidery.

You'll also notice that I used a snap as my closure on this one.  Now that I've tried that, I think it's my favorite way to close this up.  So, I encourage you to give it a try!

I also sewed the pockets out of fabric for this one.  For each row of pockets, I cut a strip of fabric 4 1/2" by 5 1/2".  I folded it in half the long ways, so it measured 2 1/4" by 5 1/2" with the right sides together.  I sewed a 1/4" seam along the long raw edge.  After sewing, I turned it right side out and pressed it so that the seam was along the bottom of the pocket and the folded edge was at the top.  I repeated it for the other set of pockets.  Then, I attached them the same way that I attached the lace in the tutorial.  If I had it to do over again, I might make these pockets a little shorter....I might start with a piece of fabric that is only 4" or maybe 3 3/4" wide.  Just a thought.

You will notice that I didn't have a big enough piece of the pink fabric to cut out the front flap piece.  So, I pieced what I had onto another fabric.  It worked great and turned out cute!

Sweet Pea liked this one so much, she decided to keep it.  She gave her other one to a friend of hers on the school bus, who also has a DSi and with whom she swaps games now and then.  It was very cute.

Well, I hope you enjoy the tutorial and that you like these adaptations to the pattern.  If you decide to make it, I would love to see what you do!  Please post photos of your projects on my Flickr page, Mama Pea's Pod or on The Quilted Fish's Flickr page.

And don't forget, Amanda is selling kits for the projects on her website!  So, you can go there and pick up some fabric and goodies if you'd like!

I would like to thank Amanda for the wonderful gifts she has bestowed on me and for the opportunities she has given me.  I also want to thank my design team members for their inspiration, encouragement, and friendship through this process.  And I want to thank Jill and Lynn again for all their help in editing and sewing samples!

I hope you enjoyed this!  I have had so much fun making it.  I hope you do, too!

Sweet Pea got up this morning and complained that she really missed me while I was gone.  My afternoon meeting got cancelled today, and it's her first day of spring break.  So, I'm playing hookie from work and taking her out to lunch and bowling with friends.  Should be fun!

Until next time,

Mama Pea

 

Comments

[sisLH]

And here you were nervous. Why? This is really nice and useful. I already have an idea in mind for Lucas. Have fun bowling.

[sisLH]

P.S. My personal favorite is the one with the big crocheted flower! -although that I'm sure cannot go to Lucas. I'm thinking a little horseshoe closure for him.

[Jewel]

It's awesome Stephanie! I told you it would be :)

[Lynn]

I love the embroidery you did on the last one! Very pretty! You could also embroider a name on the flap, maybe on the inside would be better though.

[Deb]

Great job on the tutorial Stephanie! I really like all the variations too. I'm with you, I think the snap closure may be best. Thanks! Have a great weekend!

[Jacque Bruce]

Great tutorial! Thanks for sharing!

[Terri]

Well, that cements it; you are an inspired woman! I've been thinking for weeks about making Carmi a little scripture bag. A few weeks ago, she took some scriptures to church and left them, so I thought I would make her a cute little bag to carry so that I can buy her a new set of scriptures and she won't forget them at church again. I mean, she might, but it won't be as likely if she's carrying them in this adorable little bag!

[Linda]

congratulations, Stephanie!! I'm so proud of you!! What an amazing design!! The girls would LOVE that for their DSI's!!! So cute!! You did a wonderful job, as always on the tutorial!!! You're fabulous!!

[Caroll D]

What a great job you did! I'll have to link to it. Love that sweet divinity fabric. All the cases are so cute. I'm thinking of all my little ones who need something like this. I bet this little case would also be good for other things, too, like Church Dolls, or snacks. You are an inspiration.

[Sue]

Oh what a great tutorial! I love things like this. The camera case idea is nice and using it for a cell phone case is great! I love those sweet, adorable fabrics too!

Thank you for sharing your talents and tutorial with us :D

[Peg]

That is soooo cute! And I am so glad Sweet Pea has a safe place to carry her DSi. But now she has two empty pockets; guess we'll have to do something about that. I love the case, and I think you did a great job. Also, I love the fact that is is so adaptable. It looks like it could be used for all kinds of things. Great job --- as usual! :-)

[Donna]

I just got home from being gone all day and came right to the computer to see your tutorial. I love the cases! You did a great job!!! I have the fabric and the buttons I had already purchased ... now I need the cute little crocheted flowers!

[Allie]

Too cute, you did a GREAT job on this hon!

[Melissa]

The mini hipster is very in. It is the fastest style of bag that flies off of our shelves. Very cute.

[Linda in Calif.]

You did a great job on this - It's really cute - and so in style. Actually they are all cute.