Hello sweet peeps. I made 10 more purses for the Sew Powerful Purse Project Sew-a-thon, which brings the Sew-a-thon total to 37 purses so far and 138 total purses made this year so far. I am still sewing purses all month long, so count along with me as I make more purses. Then I will take a long break from purse making the next couple of months, lol!
People have asked me how I can get so many purses sewn each day, well let me tell you:
- I sew fast and I have a straight stitch Juki sewing machine that sews at 1500 RPM's. I used to have a similar Brother machine, but it died after 13 years of constant sewing (and fast sewing).
- Plus I also sew assembly line fashion, so that helps me to sew faster.
- Plus I know this purse pattern by heart as far as sewing it, so I never need to look at the directions at all anymore.
- I also use webbing for the straps, so no straps to sew before adding the straps.
- I add rivets on the sides through the strap in the purse so I don't have to take the time to sew those little X boxes on the sides.
- I also cut out 113 purse kits to have ready to sew last month, so all I am doing is sewing this month and not having to cut anything out, which takes longer than the sewing.
- I cut the main lining fabric in a full piece, so I eliminated having to sew the top piece to each lining piece as that was more sewing to have to sew the tops to the lining and more time to cut out those top pieces too. So I enlarged the lining to make it one continuous piece (I cut 2 linings, a front and a back). I make the intermediate style purse with the full exterior gusset, by the way.
- I also bundle up my kits into what topstitching thread color I need and sew with that one color for all the kits that need it before switching to the next thread color, so that saves a lot of time too.
- I sew the buttons on by hand in the evenings while watching Netflix or Amazon movies.
- Hubby does most of the cooking, so I don't have to spend time in the kitchen or shop for food as he does that too. He enjoys it.
- I get up super early in the morning when I am at my best for sewing and go to bed early too.
- I have many decades of piecing, appliqué, quilting, and bag making experience as well so I know what I am doing and how to do it.
Anyhow, on with the latest 10 purses:
 |
| 3 with black topstitching thread. |
 |
| The back side of 2 of the black purses. One with a black jean pocket and the other pocket on the right I had to piece together in order to create a back pocket, so green rickrack to the rescue to cover up the pieced seam and it adds some bling at the same time. |
 |
| The purse above with the jean pocket on the back, I also added a flower appliqué to the front pocket under the flap. If you look at the first photo of 3 purses, you can see a tiny bit of the pink peeking out from under the flap of the middle purse. |
 |
| Inside the purse with the flower appliqué on the pocket I used a jewels fabric print. I was given a couple of yards of this fabric and wasn't sure how to use it as there were many large jewels in different colors on the fabric. It didn't quite work for flaps, so I made the lining for a few purses out of it. Thanks to Karen H. for the fabric. |
 |
| These 2 were stitched with a teal color thread. Only had 2 in teal. |
 |
| On to the purple color topstitching thread. I stitched 5 purses with purple. |
 |
| I don't take the time to photo every purse inside, but wanted to show these as I loved the fabrics. Inside the purse on the left, I had to piece the lining to make it large enough and used a piece of the exterior fabric to do that. It adds something fun inside. |
 |
| The same 2 purses showing the back pockets of each. I don't always have enough fabric to add a back pocket, but I will when I have enough fabric. I actually sewed a couple of other purses and found the back pockets of 2 purses had fallen on the floor and didn't discover them until I had sewn the purses already. Oh well, not going to rip out a purse just to add pockets, lol! I might just sew those pockets on the inside lining of another purse. |
 |
| 3 more with purple thread. |
 |
| Close-up of the words that aren't actually buttons, but came with some buttons I had so I sewed them down the best I could. |
More purse sewing tomorrow, so ta-ta for now.
Pin It Now!
What I love about your purses is that you make lots of them (pat on the back) but you still make them beautiful and appealing to young girls. I think it's awesome! I'd love to know where you find your webbing. I'd like to find a source for narrow webbing or something to make straps for mastectomy drain bags. Those are my quick sew charity project of choice at the moment.
ReplyDeleteDaryl, your technique is so impressive resulting in many, many uniquely beautiful purses. The girls in Zambia are sure to treasure one of your creations!
ReplyDelete