My Twin Loves Irises

Irises make me think of my twin sister. Last month I inherited two tops with irises on them, so I decided to make "something" for her. But what? After thinking about it for a while I decided to make the irises on the white cable-knit sweater into some kind of applique. Knit is tricky - it unravels quickly! I serged the edges and attached it to a plaid pillowcase that I had made out of an oversized button-up shirt. And as Spunky says "voila!" (actually, he says "wall-LAH" - he's only 4, you know?!).

I am learning a bunch of embroidery stitches right now, but this is not my handiwork (I'm pretty sure this one is machine embroidered, but it's pretty!).

The other top was a butter yellow t-shirt with an assortment of flowers (including said iris). My twin loves yellow. I hate yellow. But neither of us can WEAR yellow. So I made this adorable bag. Yes, adorable - even if it IS yellow! And the interior is a purple cotton with a textured look, with a VERY dark purple pocket.

You can't really tell from the picture, but this bag is about the size of one of those recyclable bags you get from the grocery store. What's that? About 18"x15" with a 3" bottom or so?

Check out that great ribbon - I got it at Hobby Lobby for 50% off. Gotta love a sale!

I experimented with a different type strap construction for this bag - I sewed the ribbon on one side and the other side is just the yellow cotton jersey left over from the t-shirt. I made it so you could see a little yellow on either side of the ribbon for contrast, and the ribbon (grosgrain) helps keep the jersey from stretching. I think it turned out pretty good. The only thing on this one that was a bit wonky was the graphic, which did not end up completely centered, and the magnetic purse snaps, which were kind of mis-aligned.

Oh well - I never said I was perfect :)