Zodiac Purse

Swap: Fall Ball / Invite Your Partner Swap
Sent to: the littlest ninja (Stephanie)
For the Invite Your Partner swaps, you either ask someone specific to be your partner, or be asked by someone else. I was majorly nervous about asking someone, but the lovely Stephanie invited *me*!

I immediately knew that I had to put in 110% effort to make her something truly special. She requested a purse, and gave me some ideas about what she wanted, construction and color-wise. I couldn't find a pattern for what I wanted to make, so I designed a purse myself. I have only done this once before, but it turned out great! It was actually *very* hard to send this one out. But I'm so glad it has found a happy home! Annnd....I'll make myself another one. :-D

A full shot, with the detachable shoulder strap.

The lining is a print of the Chinese zodiac! I got it in a swap a little while ago and wasn't sure how to use it. This turned out to be the perfect opportunity! I also mastered the internal divider for this purse, as you can see in this picture. It's the brown thing in the bag. That was a little tricky, but it turned out well.

I agonized over the shoulder strap. She had requested that it be detachable, and I was racking my brain to come up with something practical. After going through a bunch of other ideas, I ended up using swimsuit bra hooks! They work like a charm, and are clear and therefore unobtrusive. Check out the decorative stitching!

I found out (through a little post-stalking) that Stephaie was a crocheter, so I made her a roll-up crochet hook case. I think it turned out really cute! I may make more of these in the future.

And this is the inside. It holds 6 crochet hooks, and is lined in the same Chinese zodiac cotton as the purse.

And lastly, a matching key fob. The other side was the green cotton duck.

Overall, I *love* this purse. I am so proud that something I designed came out so well! I'm thinking about making more to sell in my Etsy store. We'll see. ;)