She might not be pretty but she has a great personality!

That's how I will describe my latest creation. And if she's not pretty it's all my fault.

That's because I can just never leave well enough alone! I recently saw a really cool bag at one of the houses I clean. Now mind you I see a lot of bags and purses during my work day but I have to contain myself and not pick them up and examine them more closely.

I mean how would that look??!! Can you imagine catching your cleaning lady inspecting your belongings???

Anyway the bag that sparked me on this venture sure as hell didn't look like what I ended up with. What I originally saw was a bag that had big pockets on the front, and they held a pair of shoes. It was made of a durable canvas like fabric and I'm sure (ALTHOUGH I DID NOT LOOK) that the inside had a couple of functional pockets.

So I got to thinking and decided that more pockets on the outside equalled a better purse.

And then I cut into my good fabric and created a monster.


Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It's a purse of super freak dimensions!!!!

I thought putting the shoe pockets on the sides was a brilliant idea.


It wasn't.


Can you see how stupid it ended up looking?



There are small pleated pockets on the front (for my phone or ipod etc...) and a flap covers them. They aren't so bad.












This is the view looking straight down from the top. It's the biggest zipper gusset I've ever seen.

















This is what the side pockets look like with no shoes in them. I added buttons to hold them closed (and if I ever ditch this purse those buttons will come off; they're antique bakelite, and probably worth a couple of dollars).





My original plan was to just put elastic in the top of the pockets (I wish I had) but then I went and used some bias tape so that plan went straight out the window!








The front flap is lifted in this view and you can see the side pockets here too.

I did use a layer of Insul-brite in this bag in an effort to make it more user friendly for carrying my lunches and keeping them hot or cold.
















Here's my snazzy little wallet. I realize the mint green zipper doesn't match the blue theme going on here, but it matched the fabric and at this point that's good enough for me!



Overall, I'm very disappointed in myself but I needed a good work bag and while this will do the trick I'll never make another one.



Live and learn is my motto and maybe when I'm 90 years old I'll have things figured out.