Thursday is Purse Day - Dress Purse

A couple of years ago, a friend from India got married.  She liked pretty dresses, so I made her a "dress" purse in rich jewel tones, like saris. 

The handles are coat hangers that I wrapped in lace. 

I bought the blue flower, already ruched, but I added the button in the center to coordinate with the bodice.  Same color, same sheen, and it even picks up a little of the teal.

Brocade skirt, lightly gathered at the waist.  The belt is two layers of trim: the bottom layer is dangly beads, with the blue strip glued on top. 

 

Since she likes clothes so much, I made a different dress for the other side.  This time the hanger is green, to match the green skirt.

 

 

Chiffon is very sheer, so I pleated it to give it layers which made the color stand out, and to give it some dimension.  It came with the sparkly bits on it

I added two hearts that would sit right over the real heart if this were worn by a tiny person. 

The bottom of the dress has three layers of plain green satin, which I edged with hand beading.  The belt was a very thick, multi-colored ribbon.

From the side, you can see the split personality.  

The inside is lined with peacock-motif cotton.  

The usable part of the "purse" part only goes to the waist.  It opens from the shoulders to the underarm.  There's hand stitching from the underarm to the waist, and machine stitching across the waist (before the trim was added) to close the bottom of the purse.