Boho Gypsy Style Purse

Right now I'm working on a granny square boho purse. The granny square I chose has a tutorial here: http://edascrochetroom.wordpress.com/2011/04/http://edascrochetroom.wordpress.com/2011/04/. So I made six of these (three for the front and three for the back of the purse in autumn colors. From here on out I have to figure out how to attach all the pieces and fill in the background. No one seems to call them purses anymore. Everyone else calls them handbags around here. I'm looking forward to making the fringe but that's a long ways off.

Center of granny square.

I need six of these for the handbag.

Repairing Purse Straps

 

 

Here you can see the poor condition of the original strap and the new braided strap.

 My model asked me to repair a Mexican style leather purse that she found used somewhere. The straps had already broken once, been glued again, and torn again. I thought it would be a quick fix but ended up having to discard the original strap. A friend had given me a bunch of leather cords, so I decided to try braiding a strap instead. My first solution didn't work, because the glue from the last person's repair was in the way and the loop tore when I tried to remove the glue. You can see in the photos the solution I finally came up with. Then it seemed the braid would be a bit rough on the hands, so I sewed some suede leather tubes where the handle is. If she likes the purse I'll see if I can get her to pose for a few photos. She's not home from school today yet I guess. Hopefully we'll get to take the photos today before it gets dark.

Both interior zippers were sticking too, so I put some beeswax on them. It helped a bit, but I wouldn't put anything important in those pockets.

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New straps

Back of purse.

Creative strap solution to handbag or purse.

Back of purse.

Hobo Bag

Today I designed a hobo bag from scratch. I want to write a tutorial but first I need to make another one incorporating some of the changes I learned as I went along.