The Perfect Travel Purse

Since I discovered By Annie patterns five years ago, I have made many of her patterns and I have more on my to-make wishlist.  I recently saw a sample of On the Go (the updated version, 2.0) and it was larger than I thought from the photos I've seen.  My family took a week long trip to New York City earlier in August and I thought I'd try the On the Go.  I made it with about a week to spare before our trip.

Let me tell you--this is the perfect travel purse!  I used the vinyl pocket on the inside for my hotel room key, so it was easily accessible.  I put my credit card and cash in the slots on the inside so I didn't need to carry a wallet, which is good because mine is a little bulky.  I could fit my sunglasses case, tissue packet, and snacks in the purse itself, and my phone fit perfectly (and securely) in the back slip pocket.  I wore it cross body most of the time, though it also works over the shoulder.  

Some people in the By Annie enthusiast group on Facebook have made On the Go just a little wider.  I might try that next time, but honestly, I was happy with the size as written. 

 

 

I used some older Island Batik fabrics from a line called Lemon Grass.  I had a 1/2 yard cut of my favorite from the line, blue with dragonflies.  The lining fabric, also from Lemon Grass, is Leaf Tendrils. The binding fabric is from a different collection, Limerick, and is Spots in Purple Jelly (and was the main fabric in this By Annie backpack that I made 2 years ago). There is also some solid Lime Green on the inside for binding and some of the card slots.   

In action on the NYC subway

It's a little small for me for a day to day purse, but I know this will be my travel purse for the foreseeable future!

 

Hot Stuff with Island Batik

This month's Island Batik challenge is little different.  In January, each ambassador was sent an Oliso M3Pro mini iron and a felt carrying bag.  For our August challenge, we are to use Island Batik fabrics to decorate the carrying case.

With a blog named after my favorite flowering tree, I knew immediately how I would decorate my case--dogwoods!   While Accuquilt does not have a dogwood blossom die, one of the flowers on the Flower Bunch die has four petals.  I was able to cut an indentation our of each petal to make it look more like a dogwood blossom.   I also used the Stems and Leaves die to cut, well, stems and leaves!  

 

 

The products featured in this post were given to me by Island Batik & Oliso.

 

I used fabrics from Island Batik's always-available Foundations for everything except the leaves.  The blossoms are Carnation, the one darker dogwood is a pink blender, the branch is Roast, and the dogwood centers is Bubbles in Sprout.  I love how the dots in the green fabric mimic the textured centers of dogwood blossoms.

 

I used Heat n' Bond lite for the applique shapes.  I had trouble with it staying on the sides of teh bag; I think it was a combination of the curved surface, the felt, and the fact that the Heat n' Bond was fairly old.  The shapes stuck fine on the top and back, but I could see the applique shapes lifting away from the surface.  My fellow Island Batik Ambassador Connie of Freemotion by the River suggested Aleene's OK to Wash It.  I had never heard of this fabric glue!  It worked great, though it took a bit to peel off of my fingers 😀 

 

So here it is: a dogwood iron carrier for The Darling Dogwood!