Pleated Beauty

A few weeks ago I was so excited to find that there was a Bend the Rules Swap going on. I have never done a swap before, but always read with great interest about other swaps...it seems like everyone was having so much fun sending off and receiving goodies in the mail. So after finding out about the BTR swap I bit the bullet and signed up. I only received this book at Christmas time, and have only made a handful of projects from it, but I thought, "What the heck?" The worst that can happen is that my project will be a complete failure and the poor recipient will politely email the lovely lady in charge and ask to never be paired with me again, right???

So I sign up and am paired up with my partner. How fun! The first swap is the Pleated Beauty Handbag.... not a project I have made before. And the reason I hadn't made it is that it looked to complicated! But I read all the corrections that were posted at the BTR flickr site and all the suggestions from folks who have made one before, and headed off to Joann Fabrics with my partner's likes and dislikes in mind. And here it is.....

I didn't realize until I just put this picture up how similar the photo is to the one in the book.... this bag must have a "hanging from branch" vibe going. Honestly I hung it there because it happened to be a sunny spot.

I have never ever used interfacing before, but it wasn't too scary once I got going. I also took someones suggestion and put in a magnetic closure...also something I have never done. I'm glad I did though, because this bag is so big and it seems like it would gape open if it didn't have something to help keep it closed. I also took a few liberties with the pattern- just little things, like for the handle I sewed the fabric right sides facing (and added a layer of flannel lining as well to make it sturdier) then turned my tube inside out and top stitched the edges. It seemed easier to me to do that than try to iron 1/4" because I know I would burn myself doing that! I also lined and backed the pocket as well.

So, all in all, I am pretty pleased with the outcome. It was fun and not as hard as I thought it would be, although I really took my time (about 4 hours!) and carefully read the directions... normally I am not so conscientious about things like that! I wish I had done something more to embellish it. I wanted to try to do some free motion quilting (I think that is what its is called) around the flowers, but I chickened out, and instead all I did was add a few buttons. I sure hope my partner likes it!!