FO ALERT: Little Green Rose Purse

Here is my latest finished object... a little green purse (made from red heart) and adorned with a little crocheted rose and some vintage rose buttons for closures.

As you may know, I have been spending lots of time in hospitals... as my father-in-law recovers from a stroke. For those of you who have asked about him or sent comforting wishes... thank you. You dont know how much I appreciated your concern. He is now home and working on recovering with the help of Home Health Care. At this point, he still has no movement on his left side. But he is working hard and doing his therapy exercises obsessively... if anyone can do this through sheer determination, it will be him!

Anyway, while visiting him in the various hospitals, i always brought along a some yarn and a hook. I needed to do something to keep my hands busy and my mind calm. For me, crochet is perfect, each stitch is as comforting to me as prayer beads.

I just started out with a rectangle of hdc (for you trivia geeks, that is my favorite crochet stitch)... i love the "striped" effect of that stitch!

i added a smaller rectangle (with stitches going the other way) for the flap of the purse. made buttonholes on the flat. Then i made the strap... which also forms the sides and reinforces the bottom... long enough to wear cross-body style.

here is a peek at the lining ... which is actually a cloth napkin that was on clearance! I did realize that I definitely need to work on my sewing skills!

here is a close up of the strap detail...

and here is a shot to give you an idea of size and strap-length.

the rose i used to decorate this purse was adapted from this pattern.

A MINI LADYBUG BACKPACK

ok... i admit that i am such a slacker when it comes to finishing projects! i can't help it! i am fairly certain that i suffer from undiagnosed attention deficit disorder... lol.

i start a project... full of ideas... and then either i think of something else and want to start on the new project or a hit a "roadblock" on how construction (a pitfall because i am not a pattern person! lol)... this trait of mine is a bad thing when you undertake to make something for someone else...

i have been working on a lady bug backpack for my cousin... it is all done except for a closure and some embellishments.

well, one of my new year's resolutions has been to clear out my hibernating projects; so i hope to be finishing it this week. but first i made her the snazzy beret below!

and then thought that i would make a little mini-backpack for her daughter too!

so here is a little something that i whipped up for Baby D!

i didn't use any pattern... just went "on the fly".

i used d rings to make adjustable straps.

here is the inside.

here is a close up of the ladybug!

and here is a close up of the bobbles on the front.

I sure hope that D and her Mom like these bags! (and forgive my slowness!)

LADYBUG BAG UPDATE

finally.. i have gotten back to the ladybug bag. for some reason, i hit a brick wall on this project; and just had to take a break from it.

this week, i have received several emails asking about my progress on the bag.

i spent about 4 hours at the car repair shop yesterday... and took the bag with me and finally made some new progress on it.

here are the straps completed. the ladybug buttons will fasten to a sleeve to cover the metal cinch clasp when using it as a strap. but i havent made the sleeve yet.

i even lined this... dont look too close, my sewing isnt the greatest...lol.
i cut up an old purple tshirt to make this lining.
actually the lining turned out better than i had anticipated.

i took the bag with me to the yo-c meeting...yes, i finally showed up again! i got some really nice comments from the ladies there! it's really nice to get feedback from people who understand your craft!

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now i have to finish the embellishments, the sleeve and figure out the top closure piece.

back to the drawing board...