Sisterly sewing project

My mom discovered this purse on a blog recently and shared it with me. I fell head-over-heels in LOVE. Could there be a more perfect spring, fun, mama purse? I figured that I could put just about anything I could need these days in a purse like that.

But then I remembered that I've been on a personal project hiatus. Oh yes, finishing the organizing project in my craft room/ basement office. I've only been working on things that were for other people or pressing deadlines, like the Lego t-shirts.

Oh, but wouldn't a trip to Crafty Planet's new digs be fun? Or an opportunity to sew this with someone, like my sister and sister-in-law that I don't get to see often enough?

That was all I needed. Here's the fabric that Krista, Tonya and I picked. Mine is the middle, Krista is the blue and Tonya's was some she had on hand from another project. The Amy Butler fabrics are so delightful that I want to eat them. Here's a close up on Krista's.
And Tonya's. Her fabric is thicker, an upholstery fabric of sorts. A lovely weight.

And mine. I think orange has become my new favorite color. It sneaked into my life somehow without me noticing. Perhaps because I now have a baby girl and I'm not a *pink mom*. I like it, but I don't think that girls should ONLY be dressed in pink. Besides, with Louise's coloring, she looks adorable in orange.

The pattern can be found on the tutorial and is a pdf file. This was my first time following a tutorial for a sewing project. I was quite impressed, though we did have a hard time with a few tricky parts of deciphering the instructions.

Here we are: Jenn

Krista
And Tonya, with (my brother )Erik in the background working on tiling his backsplash.

We began the process at 8:00 p.m. cutting out our fabric. Sewing followed. Working together on the same project was amazing, as we were able to help trouble shoot for one another and stick together. The seam ripper came in handy in one section, but mostly, we followed the instructions diligently. At 11:30 we called it quits... Tonya's sewing machine was acting up and needed some tech support from my mom, it was late, a "school night" for Tonya and Krista. And, we had reached the point in the pattern where we needed to baste and gather. Baste and gather in the same sentence at 11:30 p.m. on a Sunday night-- not a good combination. We decided to set another sewing date and finish them together.

When I arrived home at midnight I realized that a little breather from the project had done me well. I quietly set up my machine at the dining room table while the rest of my family snoozed in their beds. "Oh, I'll just do ONE of the baste and gathers," I told myself. At 12:37 I shut off the machine, put down my completed purse and went to bed. All that remained was a section to be stiched by hand. I love my new purse. A picture will follow.

A big thank you to Krista and Tonya for the fun evening. I will join you to finish yours when we reconvene. I have a few pointers to share. Let's NOT do it at midnight.