Purse that doubles as a Lunchbox

Last post I mentioned that I was working on some items for a charity auction in Kentucky. Well, here is the purse/lunchbox I created almost entirely with can tabs. It expands to hold a six pack of cans!



The closure is one of the bottle cap jewels I've made for my other purse and some other items in the past.



They requested a blue/white color scheme to appeal the the University of Kentucky Fans. So, I used some blue/white and gray polar fleece I had on hand. It was strange, but the fleece appears to darken slightly when woven. No idea why that is.



As you can see the sides tuck in, which is common in many purse styles. I added a removable lining made from fused plastic grocery bags. Never ironed bags before. That was an interesting experiment I'll have to work with more in the future. It worked out rather nice for a lining. Since this is also a lunch box. It will be much easier to clean and keep condensation and other liquids from dripping out the bottom of the bag.



The base of this bag is really wide to accommodate the cans. I left a little space on top for those reusable frozen ice packs. Smaller tubes/cubes could possibly be inserted between the cans.



The closure will just reach even with the cans inside. I wanted to add a zipper around the top for better sealing, but I couldn't find a suitable one that would match and work properly.



I'll be posting about the hat next time. Until then, have a can-tab-u-lous time!

Autumn is Just Around the Corner!

Pics are here as promised! Hope you like the new retro additions. While working on the hat tutorial I wanted to make a different style than the sun hats. And, after this hat was nearly finished it "told" me it needed a purse to go with it. (And, I really wanted to use up all the scrap from the hat) :) I'm really not one who uses a purse these days. I have a tendency to lay them down in unusual places. Oopsy. But, I've had a lot of folks asking if I'm going to make any purses, so I thought I'd better get one done. It probably isn't a very practical size for most, but I think it's adorable, anyway.



Both the hat and the purse are made from three t-shirts (black, blue and white) that I happened to have around because I keep EVERYTHING. They took most of all the shirts to make except a few small scraps. Because of the indecisive person I am, I made two styles of straps for the purse. The one pictured above is a wide strap to wear over the shoulder and the other is the two smaller handles shown below. They hook in with lanyard hooks. The purse has a bottlecap button on both sides that fasten to the removable closure. And, the hat has a matching bottlecap flower embellishment.





I lined the purse with some extra blue t-shirt I had left. And, I also added a small pocket inside.



Though you can't tell in the pics, I was very please at how my make-up turned out. I've been playing around with different looks and was trying for something a little retro 20's vampish or something. The pic below is the best angle I have due to the hat brim covering my eyes. It was very odd, not to mention sticky, wearing a turtleneck sweater, wool skirt and full length wool coat in 80+ degree muggy Texas heat. Wonder what the neighbors were thinking. :) I wanted to give the images a good fall/winter feeling. Just ignore the greenery, if you will. ;)



Thanks for lookin'.