I Can Sew!

Sew is a weird word. Every time I see it, I want to say soo, but I don't. I say so.

Anyway, I may have mentioned that I got a sewing machine for Christmas. James bought it for me from a thrift store, and I ordered a copy of the manual for it online. The manual I got is literally a Xerox copy of the original manual stapled together, but it still works. I guess I wouldn't expect anything else considering how old this thing is.

Until yesterday, I hadn't so much as even turned the thing on. Soon after Christmas, I went to Jo-Ann and bought some fabric to line a purse I knitted over Thanksgiving, as well as a pattern, fabric, and thread to make plaid flannel pajamas. That was as far as I got. Every time I would think about sewing, I would decide that I would rather knit.

Now I think I was just waiting for the right motivation, which came in the form of a purse handle. Ever since I finished the purse, I had been looking for a black, braided leather purse strap. I couldn't find a decent one at any craft store or on a purse at Goodwill, so I finally checked out the website recommended on the knitting pattern. I suppose that was one of the first places I should have looked, anyway. While they didn't have what I wanted, they did have a cute brown strap that was far more appealing than anything I had seen so far, so I went ahead and ordered it for $5. I figured even if I didn't like it for my purple purse, I could use it for a different purse in the future.

So, this strap arrived in the mail yesterday, and I love it! I thought it would look great on the purple purse, so I instantly became motivated to sew in the purse lining so that I could attach the handle and finish the purse. Following the manual directions, I had the machine ready to go in fifteen minutes, and I did a test run. Can you believe how great that looks? It seemed so much harder when I was a kid.

Within an hour, I had cut out the pieces for my lining and sewn them together to make a pouch, which I then hand-sewed into the purse. It doesn't quite fit like a glove, but it's good enough for me, and so much easier than if I had tried to do the whole thing by hand.

The strap was sewed on easily in minutes, and I found the perfect buttons on Etsy that I can use for the center closure. I had already bought some black wooden buttons for this purpose, but I decided I needed brown to match the strap. I can't wait until they come and I can actually use this purse! I stuffed the purse with a scarf to take the following picture so it wouldn't look quite so floppy.

So maybe I will tackle those pajamas this weekend...