Thursday is Purse Day - Poinsettia Purses

Here are two purses I finished in January 2009.

This is Poinsettia Pochette.  A pochette is an envelope-shaped handbag.  The body is 4 x 10 inches.  I basically made a small quilt, 8 x 10 inches, then folded it in half and sewed the sides by hand. The handle is striped fabric, folded over and over again, then hand-stitched closed.

I free motioned a large Poinsettia bract and added red seed beads on the points and miracle beads at the center.  Miracle beads are made of acrylic, are typically in vibrant colors, and have a lacquer overlay that gives them a glow.  I used gold thread to meander around the flower so the Poinsettia would pouf out.  Eyelash yarn and three short strings of assorted beads add an embellishment to the front.

Two differences on the back:  

1. There are two little red buttons at the top which I added to cover the threads that were showing after I sewed the gold buttons on the front.
2. A different embellishment on the center panel.

The green leaves are sequins.  The "berry" is a button.

This is Poinsettia Purse.  It's around 9 inches square, including the handle.  The handle is black webbing, folded in half, to which I added stacked beads.  The front flap was fun to make with all the swooshiness.

Two rows of light bulb beads make a nice rattling sound when opening the purse.