I've been blogging for about, I don't know, three years now, give or take. I had a gal configure my blog with features I thought would be good to have.
Over the years I've been receiving emails when I get a response and I ALWAYS responded to those emails. But, come to find out, I'm pretty sure the person wasn't getting my emails. They were going to Blogger! Oy. I am SO sorry if you responded to one of my posts and never heard back from me, that's not like me at all.
So, from now on, I will go to my blog and respond from there when I get one of your emails. And, if you are Gail from Sydney who responded to my Japanese jacket post asking about fabrics please go back to that post, I have added my comments and recommendations for you. I originally sent you a big email but it never got to you!
Huge thanks to Shams, AKA Sharon Zakhour of Communing With Fabric, for helping me get this all sorted out. OK, confession over, now on to the subject of this blog.
For several years I've been making painted canvas purses. I've made 5 so far. They are the only purses I wear unless I'm going out in the evening. I love them because they're easy to see into, they have pockets that I place in strategic spots so I know where stuff is and they're fun to look at.
Here is the canvas I used for the lining. I painted half the canvas in black with white accents and the other white with black and grey accents. I used the lighter one for the inside and the darker one on the outside of the purse. I like to be able to SEE into a purse...why do purse makers make the inside black? Probably so it doesn't show the dirt. But stuff gets lost in there!
I use heavy canvas, I don't wash it before painting because I want it to be stiff so it holds up to future wear and tear. I use Jacquard fabric paint or just plain craft acrylic. I apply it with paint brushes of various sizes and foam brushes. The images are painted freeform, stamped, screen printed, stenciled or I write with Sharpies.
I layer the paint. I start with large forms, let them dry and apply smaller images on top. Usually it's a 3-4 step process. I don't use an primer or overcoat.
Here is the outside of the purse before I sewed in the lining. The purse starts out pretty stiff but after a month of wearing it becomes softer and a bit slouchy, which I like.
One side of the finished purse. This time I decided to follow the original pattern of the Mackerilla Maxine Bag by putting the long pockets on the bottom of the outside. I'll see if they work for me. Usually I just sew in the ones on the ends.
I like to bind the top with fabric I have on hand. This time I used several fabrics I'd sewn together for another project. I've used cashmere and raw silk in the past. I get the handles on Etsy.
The side pocket is lined with a poly techno type of fabric that is smooth and helps protect glasses from getting scratched.
I carved three stamps for this purse. The largest one is shown above. It's the two squarish white shapes. I've never been very good at carving stamps but I had so much fun this time I think I'm going to carve my own shapes from now on.
Have a great weekend, I'm headed over to the bunkhouse to start a new, yet-to-be-determined project.
