patchworkpurse2-eos

Here I am with another pattern-that-barely-counts-as-a-pattern.

I saved all the imperfect yarns I made when I was learning to spin and dye, as well as every spare yard of handspun left over from other projects. Then I made them into a bunch of little blocks and pieced them together to form a purse covering. Think of it as freeform for the spatially challenged, because there's no creativity required. It's all squares and rectangles.

If you know how to sew, you can make your own lining. But even if you don't, you can buy a purse already made and attach your pieces to the outside. Look for something with a simple shape and not too many frills or pockets that would get in the way. Also try to find a fabric that's not so sturdy that you're unable to sew through it. Then sew your squares into a cocoon a bit bigger than your purse and stitch the covering on.

Details about my purse: If you look carefully at the big stitches in pale yellow (running horizontally across the middle) and turquoise (vertically in a couple different spots), that yarn was my first time plying, and also my first time dyeing (with Kool-Aid of course). I only had about 4 yards of each, but I kept it all this time because I knew I would find a use for it. This purse also contains my tester-yarns from the first time I worked with camel, angora, bamboo, silk, mohair, and llama. There are also several dyeing-sessions-gone-wrong.

Detailed scans of my first patchwork purse:

patchworkpurse2-1

patchworkpurse2-2

 

A second, smaller purse from my extra rectangles:

patchworkpurse1-1

patchworkpurse1-2