Winter Robin Purse

I like to play with photography. I went out one frosty winter morning to take pictures of the frosted trees in the fog and spotted this robin. I waded through the knee high snow as he bounced from tree to tree. This is one of my favorite shots from that day. It placed in the local camera club and was awarded a merit at regional level. So I decided to turn it into a purse.

As much as I love to take great photos and am always off on the hunt for images that catch my attention because I see an awesome opportunity for a memorable capture, I also like to use images. I have a Canon photo quality printer. There are printable fabric sheets available in craft stores. I also have the process for taking any cotton fabric and preparing it to run through the printer. If anyone has used the sheets available to purchase then they know the price is a bit on the high side.

There isn't a high clarity picture walking around on a purse on my shoulder but there is a quite acceptable copy of one of my favorite pictures.  I plan on making more. I am a huge fan of sunflowers and every summer I go on a quest to find sunflower fields. The next photo purse will be using some shots of sunflowers. I think anyone could give it a try even if it's not for a purse. I believe that the sheets were first created for the quilting world. They go right through the printer without any problem. Just be sure to use a high quality photo. It doesn't have to be an award winning picture but it will lose some clarity so have as much as possible to start.

In the next few weeks I will post the pattern for this handy little bag on my shop on Etsy. I designed this bag for carrying the essentials and am quite pleased with it. It was the perfect size for the printed photo without losing much more than the edges, such as if it was framed. I have a welt zippered pocket inside but the basic purse is quite easy to make.

Camera Bag Insert Handy

I've been taking a lot of pictures with my DSLR camera and in preparation for a trip to the Rockies in Alberta Canada I wanted a camera bag. Looking at nice camera bags created price shock though so I looked at inserts, handy padded frames that could be inserted into any bag. You can buy inserts at a reasonable price online but I decided to make my own, wanting a custom fit. Okay, and let's face it, I like making things myself.

I made the purse like a normal purse with pockets inside for cell phone and zippered pockets inside and out and then made the camera insert. I found instructions for the insert online and used a thick yoga mat instead of buying the expensive green foam that was turning yellow on the edges that was available at the fabric store. The yoga mat was easy to cut and work with. I tweaked the insert pattern/instructions a bit, adding an extra inch on all sides of bottom piece so I could sew it to side piece on machine instead of hand stitching it together as instructed. I also sewed the bottom to the side with the Velcro on the outside then flipped it after sewing it. This gave bottom a neat, finished look and held structure together more firmly. I made two foam dividers, one attached to hold camera snuggly and one for a spare. These dividers are movable wherever there is Velcro.

I used one lens and had room for a water bottle, wristlet, phone, bag of snack food and hiked for almost 6 hours with this bag over my shoulder and it was like it wasn't even there. In hindsight I wouldn't have gone with zebra stripe for hiking in the mountains but back down in the city I didn't look like a tourist toting around a giant camera bag.

And the camera insert can easily be pulled out and the purse used as a regular purse.