Beaded Purse with Wrist Strap

The idea of making a purse with one strap for a handle appealed to me because one handle seems so unbalanced yet so right. I came across this book The Art of Making Hand-Beaded Bags by Karen Torrisi at the National Library and I just love how every step is illustrated clearly in simple terms, including the beading parts. The only obstacle. I'm not a beader. Not even a beginner. I thought about skipping the whole beading part but the "impossible is nothing" part of me rose to the occasion and I raided my girl's beads. With the purchase of a beading needle, I had no more excuses. Besides, the book was due soon. I used my girl's old overalls and I beaded away. Truthfully, my beading looks nothing like the book's sample bag which is gorgeous, a bit tai-tai for my taste though. The next 2 days were spent trying to assemble the bag. My Secondary 1 Woodwork teacher once commented I lacked "bird's eye view" when I kept assembling my wood craft wrong. (Huh?) I don't know which view was missing but I kept leaving the handle in the lining. I would unpick the darn thing and redo and the handle would end up in the lining. I really wanted to give up on this bag. In all fairness, the assembly of this bag is done a little differently from what I usually do. (I adapt slow) I discarded this project and returned the book to the library. Funnily, (ha ha) I was drawn back to the bag one day and I just got it right at first try. Unfortunately the side seams of the lining was all scrunched up.

Denim Beaded Purse


Once again, giddy with success, I had to make another beaded purse with one handle. This time I used store bought cheap black poplin and I embroidered chain stich for skull/bones structure. The eyes and teeth were beaded. I did everything right this time. Only thing. The black poplin attracts lint like crazy.
Black Skull and Bones Beaded Purse