Square embroidered purses

One of the coats I bought had a lot of zips on it and I thought it would be good to try and make some purses where I didn't have to insert the zip myself!

To add some decoration and interest I used the free embroidery foot on the sewing machine and stitched shells and seaweed in a contrasting turquoise thread.

This way of making a purse was so much simpler and I'm going to start looking out for garments with zips that I can easily incorporate into my products.

Plastic shell clutch

An idea that I didn't have at the start, but which was suggested to me whilst working n the project, was this plastic shell clutch. It was made by vacuum forming clear plastic over a real scallop shell. I then coloured it with glass paint and glued on clear PVC to attach the two halves.

 I like this idea, but I don't think it very practical. It would be hard to use it as an actual purse so people might not want to buy it. It also took quite a long time to make, so might cost a lot to buy.