hippie chick bag | Aunt Mayme's Attic

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April, Say You Will! (Lead me into Spring)

Posted at 8:48 pm by Beth P

Apr 9th

Well, it’s April already. Husband has informed me that we have just one more week of heating material left; not three like last year. Would you think it got a little colder this year? I’d say so.

So I’ve been in a mood, thinking of changing my wardrobe. Want to get back to being a boho hippie chick. You know the kind—-long overshirts and flowy skirts. Problem is, the winters here are harsh and I’d have to revert back to corduroys just to keep warm. Maybe make a corduroy skirt? Oh, I tried that. I bought some corduroy and then put it away. When I pulled it out, trying to destash, I forgot what I wanted to use it for. So I made another pair (No. 7) of corduroy pants. Then I realized why I bought it; to get away from all the pants-wearing. Frustrated over my mistake, I got busy and cleaned out my fabric closet, and labeled everything for its intended purpose. Little slips of paper here and there, pinned to my fabrics.

My friend, Ruth is awestruck by my fabric closet. But really, she should be more awestruck by my whole stash–tucked under beds and in dark corners of closets. Sometimes I amaze myself as to where I put things. I know she was impressed by all my vintage embroidered linens!

But back to the Hippie Chick thing. I realize I’m not getting any younger, and if I want a boho hippie wardrobe, then by golly, I should have one! So to start the ball rolling, I pulled out a vintage embroidered piece I bought several years ago and it’s much older than that! Orange mushrooms–any of you old hippies remember the 1970’s and the Mushroom Craze? Kitchen canisters made in mushroom shapes, mushrooms were on towels and bath rugs; a former sister in law even had wallpaper with mushrooms in her kitchen.

So what am I doing with such a vintage piece of history? One we will likely never see again? I’m making a Hippie Chick bag, of course! Take a look at it in progress, and yes, it’s 1970’s Orange!!!

This is the mushroom dresser scarf soon-to-be outside flap

This is the outside fabric. Pretty wild, huh?

This is a scrap that shows the inside fabric.

I just realized the mushrooms look 3D in the photo. Oh my! Never saw this before. This little gem will be finished and in my Etsy shop soon. Just a cute little tote bag, easy enough to slip gym shoes, a sweater, library books or whatever into, with a cute 1970’s mushroom flap closure. Yes, vintage still lives on!

Keeping you in stitches, Beth

Posted in Musings, Vintage Niceties News | Tagged 1970s boho hippie chick, Dreams of spring, hippie chick bag

The Making of a Hippie Chick Laptop Tote From a Reclaimed Vintage Pillow Sham

Posted at 2:05 pm by Beth P

Dec 23rd

Today I thought I’d get down to business and create a laptop tote bag I’ve had rolling around in my head for a while. You see, I stay awake nights thinking about things to make and when this gets me to the point I’m frustrated, I settle down and make it. I had a goal to get this done before Christmas, and today was the day.

I started off with a vintage pillow sham I found somewhere (yard sale, garage sale, antique store–those places I frequent) and removed the lining on the back, as well as the beautiful corded trim around all the outside edges.

Top of pillow sham; note the cording on the outside edge,

The white is what remained after I removed the tan lining

Cording removed; saving it for something else

Then I folded the bag in half (with the folded part at the bottom) and sewed up the sides. (I also made a lining using the same shape as the outside of the bag, as well as a welted zipper pocket, but I don’t have pictures of those–too complicated and I didn’t want your eyes to glass over)

Next up was making the silk sari ribbon roses I wanted to use for embellishments for the front. I purchased a skein of the silk sari ribbon from again somewhere I can’t remember, but I do remember it was online! And I had to wrap it in a ball to use it. Luscious pinks, rose and tans–just right for my bag.

Cool bits of silk strips, wrapped into a softball size ball

If I wrapped pieces of the ribbon around my fingers,

Ribbon around my finger

then smooshed it and ran a thread through all the layers,

I would come up with a few cute little roses! I fused a doily down first, fastened it by stitching around the edges. I hand stitched through the roses to attach them to the top of the bag

Roses on top of doily that is fused to front of bag

Next came the brown suede leather handles and stitched them to the top of the bag, not sewing through the lining I made earlier. I did reinforce the area where the handles would be sewn with durable interfacing to help reinforce the stitching area so it wouldn’t tear.