for all the junk in my trunk

I've made a few things out of Amy Karol's Bend-the-Rules Sewing but here are my two most recent: The No Cash Wallet and Pleated Beauty Handbag.

The book comes with patterns in the back that you enlarge on a photocopier in order to get them to the right size. The wallet was made this way and came out WAY too small. Maybe the scaling on the Kinko's copy machine was off... but I followed the instructions to a T (and I hardly ever do.) This is the outside of the wallet. The button is just for show—it actually snaps closed.

Here's the inside of the wallet. As you can see, my cards are standing vertically in the pockets... I'm pretty sure they were supposed to be in there horizontally. Oh well. I keep membership cards, gift cards and the like in there and still use my trusty old travel wallet for money and credit cards. One of these days I'll get around to making an oilcloth wallet that holds all of it. It's on my list of things to make... someday.


Here's the purse I made. I made the base of the purse from some random fabric in my stash—it's probably nylon or polyester—it wouldn't hold an ironed crease at all. Blech! The patchwork parts are from a charm pack Kathryn gave me for Christmas. Love them! Overall, this purse went pretty well. I used it today, and it's HUGE! So much bigger than the purses I'm used to carrying; I lost things in it. I had the same amount of stuff that I usually carry in a smaller purse in this new purse and it felt empty, like I was going to have to crawl inside it to find what I was looking for. (And it's really not all that big.) I plan on making another with added dividers and pockets so it doesn't feel so cavernous inside.