The $3 Purse - and accoutrements

Shortly after Soren was born, we strapped on the Baby Bjorn and made the long trip down the block (1/2 mile) to St. John's  thrift store.  I planned to buy long sleeve button down shirts to enable my crippled style state of breastfeeding.  It isn't pretty.

The style gods smiled on me and withheld the desired menswear, but they did give me a truly hideous purse for $1 and the cutest mother and baby deer figurine.  Yeah.  Nevermind that.

I had this fabulous green canvas and leftover navy blue leaf print from Helen's wee dresses.  The pattern for the pacifier pouch was very easy and fun.  The iron on vinyl is easy to use and easy to find (ask at your fabric store's cutting counter).  I added a strap, which could just be a ribbon.

And the purse?  I declare proudly that I love upcycling.  I tore apart the $1 purse and recovered it, sewed it back together, and replaced the totally skeevy lining with one with custom pockets.  I am unsure of how to call it?  Option A: "Mom's Sanity Bag" with notebook and pen, ready at all times to remember all the things that occur to me while breastfeeding that, if they go unwritten, disappear into thin air.  Option B: "Mom's Boob Bag" equipped with cream, pads, and tissues.  Slightly racy, so I think I'll stick with Mom's sanity bag.

Final thoughts on sewing a purse?  The easiest way to do it is carefully disect a crappy beat up purse with a nice shape, then recover it and piece it back together.  It was easy and fun, and I was able to custom design pockets for the inside to suit a very special need (sanity or boobs?  Both are special, eh?).

And then there were sad little scraps left over at the end.  What to do with random scraps?  A nursing cape!  Et voila, c'est parfait, n'est ce pas?  I looked online, and for some reason all the nursing capes are in fact painter's tarps with a neck.  If I wanted a tarp, I'd go to Walmart and buy one.  No thanks.

So my little cape is perfect.  It has a v neck, and in the center front, I added a large box pleat, as well as a few additional pleats on each side.  Hello decent cape, goodbye tarp!  The best part, they all match, and they all fit in one decent little bag!