Well, hiya and welcome to 2017!

So? New year…new you?

Yeh, me neither.

It’s been a very long time since I’ve jumped out of bed on the first of the New Year with guns blazing, list of resolutions in hand. I wonder if perhaps the calendar new year, January 1, is poorly timed for those of us living in the northern hemisphere? January…the month that I most strongly associate with the season of winter…feels for me; inward, contemplative and comfortingly heavy. This is the time I think, and I dream. The action….well that comes later. To a large extent, my new year’s intentions are always to feel somehow lighter…you know; less weight, less stress, less stuff…as well as equally airy* pursuits such as greater knowledge and deeper spirituality. In contrast, January is still. Quiet. Grounded. And this I embrace. Like a champ. If only for a month, I savor the dreaming and not the doing. 

That isn’t to say January has smothered me like a blanket. Not. At. All. I have been creating…if not my future…then these warm and fuzzy Bonnie Bucket Handbags!  I’m not sure why…but I could not get the idea of a faux fur handbag out of my head this past fall. Wot up? And what to do? Why, make not one, but two of the furry beasts, that’s what. I rooted out both of these fabulous fabrics from Dressew’s enormous supply. I decided on two purses…it’s like the ark around here…one wild and crazy, the other sublime. I used the same pattern for both…the Bonnie Bucket Bag by Swoon Sewing Patterns.

Up first, the wild one…made nearly to specs with the exception that I printed the pattern at 90%….a little smaller than designed, but right sized for me! I quilted the dark brown fabric and used a distressed leather-like fabric for the purse bottom and strap. {I followed an excellent strap tutorial here from Emmaline Bags.} I omitted the exterior pocket in favour of two interior pockets, one zipped, the other elasticized.

My second Bonnie Bucket Bag, also 90% sized, turned out even better than the first. This time around I tried to class things up with steel blue ultrasuede and a relatively short napped faux fur. I followed the Drawstring Bonnie Tutorial. Basically, you construct the bag, minus the zipper, and then add grommets and a drawstring. In theory, not so difficult. But the thing is…I had a lovely finished handbag….suddenly, installing grommets seemed a bit scary. Furthermore, I didn’t have a fabric punch that worked well on the ultrasuede and I had exactly the number of grommets needed for the finished project…meaning no test run. After marking twelve holes, I poked them through with my stitch ripper and then carefully cut out the circles with a pair of sharp scissors.  I hadn’t bothered to interface the suede during construction {#facepalm}, so that meant ironing on 24 little squares of fusible interfacing before hammering in the grommets. Fun, dat. Most miraculously, things ended well. I can honestly say I honed a few bag making skills and conquered as many fears with my Bonnie Bucket Bags.

I actually have a few several more PDF handbag patterns that I’m eager to try…{Yes I did..I went on an online shopping spree Black Friday weekend.} There are definitely some new skills to be learned when it comes to making professional looking handbags and hopefully…with practice…I’ll impress even myself. But…just to be clear…for right now, I’m content to simply dream about these future projects.

And for fun, I made pom-poms out of leftover fur. For each one, I cut two circles roughly 4-5″ in diameter, sewed them right sides together, leaving an opening to allow for turning right side out. I stuffed them with a few bits of poly batting and then hand sewed them to thrifted toques.

Swoon Patterns : : Bonnie Bucket Bag

Emmaline Bags : : D-Rings, Rectangular Rings, Cord Ends, Rivets

*By airy, I do not mean vacuous. Quite the opposite, referring to the mind/brain’s affinity to the higher chakras.