Hugs and Kisses Upcycled Necktie Mini-Purse

It's the end of the month so today's the deadline for the Project Quilting Off Season Challenge #4, the "Non-Quilt Quilt."

Quick recap:
1. The entry must be made of fabric and three dimensional, so not flat like a quilt but be anything from a bag, to a sculpture, to a wearable, to an accessory.
2. The entry must also incorporate at least two items or textures that are not fabric.

This was a challenge for me as I haven’t made anything three dimensional before because it intimidates me. I knew right away what I wanted to do for this challenge, something I’ve been wanting to try for over a year now, it just hasn’t made it to the top of the “to do” list, so this was the push that I needed to get it done.

Last summer I made "The Ties that Bind" a wall hanging using men’s ties and shortly after that I came upon several really fun, colorful ties made with beautiful silk fabrics and the idea of making a single tie into a purse intrigued me. It already had innerfacing in it so I wouldn’t have to figure out how to do that, and the underside of the widest part already had a lining, so I wouldn’t need to add that either. It’s not a big purse but I’m not the sort that carries a purse so this would be nice for when I just need to take along a cell phone or keys and lip balm.

It took some trial and error (yes, there were some ugly ties harmed in the making of this purse) but persistence paid off and I came up with a pattern that I liked.

The two non-fabric items/textures are a Velcro closer and a round, red button for decoration.

This was part of the “Save the Children” collection and this fabric, called “Tic Tac Tie” was designed by Alec who was 8 years old at the time.

The outside dimensions are 6”h x 3”w; inside dimensions are 5”h x 2”w x 1”d; the strap is 38" long total (shoulder to purse 19" drop)

To see the other entries go to the Non-Quilt Quilt page.