Once Upon a Bookshelf

So! I’ve been meaning to make Amy Butler’s reversible Chelsea handbag for well over six months now. In fact, this was my second sewing goal for 2009. I bought the fabric way back in November, and it’s been sitting in my closet since then. I finally got the pattern through macFab Fabrics a couple of weeks ago, and thought I’d take advantage of the long weekend and spend part of the time being creative. And, after a good long day of cutting material, pressing material, sewing material together and cursing my sewing machine for not wanting to go through thicker amounts of fabric, I finished my purse!

I’m pretty happy with it, all things considered. This was a more complex project than anything else I’ve done before. I’ve never had to deal with things like handles, so I’m not 100% happy with how they turned out, but if the handbag works well for me, then I’ll do a much better job next time I make it – I love the style and other than the couple of hurdles it wasn’t very difficult, so I could see this as something I would make again already. Plus, it’s a good size for fitting a paperback in, and we all know that’s one of the main considerations when looking at purses. ;)

Next time I go visit my parents, however, I will be borrowing my mother’s sewing machine for a bit to fix up some areas around the top of the purse where I had some issues. My sewing machine doesn’t work well when I want it to go through a bunch of layers of thick fabric, so the stitching doesn’t look as nice as it could…

But other than those two things, I’m really happy with how it turned out! One of the things that I really really liked about this handbag is the fact that it’s reversible, so while I love the fabric I’ve used on the outside of the purse, I also really love the stuff used for the inside, and if the outside doesn’t match what I’m wearing, I can always turn it inside out:

When I moved out, I took an old filing cabinet of my parents’ that they were no longer using but hadn’t actually gotten rid of yet. It certainly looks its age, and boy is it UGLY.

This past Friday night, I decided that I was sick of looking at it, and so proceeded to search Apartment Therapy for something I could do with it. And I found a VERY easy project. So, after buying a roll of wrapping paper yesterday afternoon, I spent this evening transforming that old and ugly filing cabinet into something MUCH more my style.

And when I say that it was a VERY easy project, I mean all that really had to be done was removing the handles (and other hardware) on the drawers, use spray adhesive to stick wrapping paper to every visible surface, then reattach all hardware.

Normally, I hate spray adhesive. I would MUCH rather work with rubber cement. I spent three years in college using it to mount projects, and always managed to get it ALL OVER MYSELF. Not fun! That said, there are some instances when working with spray adhesive ends up looking a heck of a lot better. This is DEFINITELY one of those instances. So, as much as I hate the stuff, I decided it was worth it to suffer sticky hands for the next day or so in order to prettify that ugly piece of metal.

Of course, I did run into a few setbacks. Another problem I have with spray adhesive (or any type of adhesive, really) is making everything line up in a way that I am happy with. So it took longer than I expected it to.

But other than that, it was super easy. And I have to say that I’m quite happy with the outcome. Take a look for yourself. (Click on the picture to make it bigger.)

So. It has been 13 months since I made my duvet cover. At that point in time, I had said that I would be making a bed skirt for it.

And it only took me 12 months to start it. And a project that should have taken a weekend took about 5 weeks to finish… so just over 13 months later, it is finally done.

Yes I win like that.

But! Finish it I did. And although I am not 100% happy with it, I am still about 90% happy with it. There are a few things that I think I could have done better. Such as measuring lengths correctly. And sewing in a straight line. But for the most part, I like how it turned out:

You can’t really see it, but my duvet cover and bed skirt don’t actually match. The duvet cover has faded over the year. The sun, she shines right into my bedroom in the middle of the day. Thankfully, the panel that I am least happy with is the one that is on the side of the bed away from the door. So no one is ever going to see it. Except me.

… and yes, that is my Darth Vader pillowcase.