Finished projects from March's challenge - shown at the April 26th Meeting

      Kathy's challenge for us in March was to make a bag - purse, messenger bag or tote - using men's or women's sport jackets or suit coats.  We were supposed to incorporate the lapels, pockets, sleeve vents, and buttons as design elements.  Here is the one Kathy made - it's a messenger bag with lots of pockets inside and out, a flap closure and colors and styling appropriate for a man or woman.  The pocket "hankie" is styled from a men's tie.  I wouldn't want to part with it, but Kathy is willing to sell it for $55.

  

           Here is the bag Brenda W. made.  Check out her adjustable strap and its hidden zipper (with a cute tassel pull), the neat pouchy pockets on each side and another version of a pocket hankie.






      

       Here is Brenda P's version.  As you can see this is still in the development phase, but she still brought it in for show and tell.  The red piping gives it a nice pop of color.





         


      Gwen made this dressed-up "girly" version.  Her beaded handle, sequined and lace medallion, beaded ribbon flower, and lace-edged lapel pockets are gorgeous.  See Gwen's blog for more pictures.  Wish she had a photo of the button feet she put on the bottom.

                                                                                                                                                                                  Marge choose to use women's jackets for her purse.  The 2 different tweedy patterns and colors complement each other well.  The fringe you see on the edges were part of the jacket lapels.  Since she was still trying to decide on exact placement for the various parts, we (of course) all offered advice.  That's the price you pay for bring a WIP (Work In Progress) to Designer Group!!

                                                                               Here is my green-for-spring purse.  I used part of the linings from the 3 jackets to make piping to separate the sections and to make the pocket "hankie".  Both front and back pockets are functional and the handle has a bit of padding to make it comfy to carry. There are extra pictures on Carol's blog.

Katherine met the challenge with 2 purses -  stash fabric added to a grey jacket for one and a flowery print from a women's jacket for the other.  She likes her bags to have structure, so hers are the only ones standing for the photos.  Isn't the gimp trim on the handles a nice touch?  Check out Katherine's blog to see her other projects.




 Susan T brought this cute bag with a shoulder strap and great embellishments.  There's a flap pocket on one side and this deeper pocket, also.

        Cynthia used parts from a red suede coat and the Tulip Purse pattern.  She has shown us many different versions of this pattern and always adds her own touch to personalize them.

       This was Sue B's tote that she designed specifically to hold her choir music books.  She embellished the pin striped fabric with decorative stitches and multi-colored threads and added the scalloped trim.  She repurposed ties for the handles and added yo-yo flowers with button centers for even more color.

          Dolly took her linen jacket apart, cut it up, stamped it, dyed it, wrote on it, used a batik resist technique, and painted it.  Now she just has to put it together as a bag.  See Dolly' s blog and you'll understand that she puts a lot into her sewing.  Remember - she was the one who challenged us to make the sweater coats!






Jan is our newest member, so this was her first challenge.  Very nice tote, classic color scheme, and done on time!

  










Sorry this took so long to get posted.  Susan L - we need pictures of your bag.  And please, anyone with more to add, put it up here.  Let's make our blog a real destination!