Three Purses

  Three Purses

       It was so much fun to English Paper Piece these 3 panels.   Clamshells and hexagons are fun to work with and in my imagination I saw them as cute purses.    The fun stopped when it was time to attach handles to them and make actual purses.  I hemmed and hawed on what to do and eventually hung them with my other WIP's (works in progress) until inspiration came.  There they remained.  Sigh. 

     Today is the day I am going to finish all three of them!   

Purse #1 - I am attaching to a tote that was purchased at Target for $1.99 (in their front of the store bins) because then I don't have to make any handles.

Purse #2 - I purchased 2 handles at JoAnn's for $4.95.  I decided to just use one of the handles and attach it on the sides of the purse.  

Purse #3 - I decided to make into a pillow! 

Unframed Embroidery

Isn't it fun to finish those projects that somehow never were completed when they were first started?   
I was excited to finish 3 embroidery projects at my house this week!   

After an embroidery is completed, the next question is how to frame and hang it.   The three options I considered were:

 framing, hooping or using bias tape.

1. Framing: Okay, so I already have lots of framed pictures around the house and didn't feel like spending money on more.   Plus, that hard and defined look is not what I was going for.    

FRAMING

2. Hooping:  Hooping is popular right now and can be very cute.   My three projects were the wrong shape, though. 

  3.  Bias  Tape:  This seemed like the right answer.  Bias tape is inexpensive and can be purchased in all kinds of colors and patterns.  It is a narrow strip of fabric that is cut at a 45 degree angle from the selvage edge of the fabric.  It has been folded into the center, so there are no raw edges to deal with.   It is very easy to make your own bias tape.    

  Here is an excellent tutorial with pictures and instructions on how to make your own. 

Below are pictures of my 3 finished embroidery projects, framed with bias tape.  It was easy and fast to attach the tape. The tape was attached to the front with my sewing machine and then simply blind stitched on the backside. 

It gave me a result with a softer look, than either the frame or hoop would have given me.