Saturday, October 30, 2010

Inspiration Challenge 2

This was the inspiration photo and color palette for this week's challenge from


Isn't that just the cutest picture?  And the colors are just gorgeous!  This is what I wrote down as
I looked at the picture:

Halloween
Little girl
Cutesy scary
Keyhole
Pumpkin
Blues

There wasn't anything in my stash that inspired me so I headed for the fabric store.  I was really
drawn to the blues in the palette but I just didn't see any fabric that excited me.  I began focusing on the pumpkin color of the keyhole and before I knew it, I had a fat quarter bundle in my hand that was the closest I could come to the palette.  Not what I really had in mind but it would have to do.

Next step was deciding what to make.  I drew a blank here until
the last minute!  I found instructions for a bag that looked interesting and went with it.  After reading through the instructions and getting the general idea, I got started and made it my own.
First I cut a piece of muslin as the base and then tore one inch strips from each of the fat quarters.
I sewed the strips to the muslin and then added additional fabric strips, old and new lace pieces and vintage buttons.  I had fun going through the buttons and finding the different browns and oranges.  I actually found come really cool buttons I didn't know I had!

I sewed up the sides and added the lining.  The instructions called for cording for the strap, which I went and bought later, after I bought the fabric.  Guess what?...it didn't work with the fabric at all!  I didn't want to spend any more money so I decided to cut more strips, sew them end to end and cover the cording.  The nice thing about it was, I could make the seam on the outside and it was okay because of the frayed seams on the bag!




I wanted to do something with the keyhole but I was just drawing a blank.  So I used orange thread for all the stitching since it was going to show.  In the end, I am pleased with how this bag turned out.  This one won't go in the shop but with some tweaking, I might make one that is shop worthy!  The best thing about these challenges is that I'm learning about my personal creative process.  And I've enjoyed it...that's something!!

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

8 comments:

  1. Annette - this is great (and I love the story process). What a neat interpretation and the colors are so close. A whole new side of you - keep it up.

    Hugs - Marie

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  2. I love the picture. It is relaxing to look at.

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  3. Beautiful bag! You did such a great job with the inspiration picture. I was so busy with other projects this week, I completely missed the deadline. Oops! Hopefully we will get another one this week. Thanks for sharing :)

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  4. I love the "crazy quilt" look and the random bits of lace and buttons. I would love to try something like this one of these days. I like to carry very small shoulder bags for "hands-free" and the big ones that are the fashion now make my shoulder hurt. The small ones are hard to find so I have been toying with the idea of making something. Hmmm.....

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  5. That is wonderful!! Gives me some ideas on what to do with all the scraps I have lying around.
    LOVE that bag!

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  6. Well done! I'm loving all the raw edges and vintage look of your creation.

    Janet xox

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  7. Very cute bag! I love the look of the strips of fabric.
    :)

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  8. Your thought process is very interesting and inspirational. The bag turned out great!

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