Tank Purse

Okay, so I was working on the Tank Girl pattern in the first SNB book, a project I started way back in August. A project that I started before I truly understood the importance of yarn weight, needle size, and test swatches. Why is this important? Because the pattern used a bulky yarn with size 9 needles and I was using worsted and size 8. *sigh* I had gotten to the point of shaping the armholes:




But the whole time I was working on this (the back panel), I was wondering about the width. It seemed a bit narrow. I held it up to myself and noticed that it didn't stretch across my back to the sides unless I pulled on it a lot. Hmm...that would be a problem. I looked at the pattern again and noticed the difference in yarn and needle size. I also noticed a sketch that showed the dimensions of the piece. The width should have been 16-1/4 inches (or something close to that). What was mine? Only 9-1/2 inches!! Eek! No wonder it seemed a bit narrow. *big sigh* What to do? I didn't want to frog it all and start over. I just didn't have the heart. So I decided to make something different out of it.

An easy fold and some seaming and I had myself a purse! I did an i-cord handle (my first time with i-cord, which turned out nicely) and was happy with it:



The part where I had started the armhole shaping became the flap of the purse.



But there was one problem. When I held the purse by the handle, it sagged a LOT. So much so that it made the purse almost useless. So I decided to line it. I found this patterned felt and decided to try it. But I also used plastic canvas underneath to give it stiffness.



Well, the purse is now stiff and holds up perfectly when you hold the handle. But I think it might be a little too stiff and since I sewed the bottoms together, it is a bit narrow now on the inside. It definitely won't hold my fat wallet. I should have done a separate panel for the bottom. Grr.

Oh, well, I definitely learned a lot while working on this project (which I'm calling Tank Purse since it was originally a tank top pattern), and I hope I can use my lessons to benefit future projects. As for this purse, I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do with it. I used fabric glue to insert the panels, so I'm not sure if I can take them out. I might try to do that and then go buy more felt and try it without the plastic canvas. But I don't know if I can get the glue to unstick.

Original pattern: Tank Girl from SNB - adapted into a purse
Yarn: KP Swish Superwash (100% Superwash Wool) – Bordeaux
Needles: Size 8