A PURSE - THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE

I hate a purse.  I dislike even more having to carry one.

  I'm sure any psychologist would tell you that I can blame that one on my grandmother.  She loved her purse (she called it her 'pocketbook') -- she kept her secrets and her whole life in her 'pocketbook'.  And, under no uncertain terms, she said that no one was to go near it or touch it.  If there had been a fire or a tornado (she lived in SE Kansas), her first priority would have been to grab that purse, I'm sure!
 Later on, she was one of those little old ladies in the nursing home that had to carry her purse EVERYWHERE.

I'm beyond where I need to carry an extra diaper, Cheerios, a pacifier, Legos, etc. in my purse; so something small will work. 

 This ugly thing has carried all of my stuff for a lot of years -- it is just a little bigger than a passport, and worked great traveling all over Europe a couple of times plus in my daily local travels.

But now---- a larger smart phone has entered my life.  It fits (barely) in my pocket, but it sure isn't comfortable.  So, I decided that because of the decaying condition and the ugliness of the old purse, and the need to carry the phone somewhere outside my pocket; I would shop for a new cross-body purse.  I have spent the last three months looking -- I don't want a fashion statement; I want function in black leather at the perfect size and preferably under $100. So far, no luck.

In the interim until I find the PERFECT purse, I have decided to make one to test out just what I need for size and function.   As usual, I have more time than money; so my goal is to keep the project cheap.

For fabric, I'm using a 100% wool gray skirt from the thrift store that I'm deconstructing and felting in hot water and a hot dryer.  And, then maybe for just a little hidden fashion statement, I'm lining it with some red plaid.  In a day or two, I should have it finished and will post on how this experiment turns out.

There have been some good posts on purses recently -- check out this one on Margo's Junkin Journal.  She covers a lot of thoughts I have about the use of a purse.

Do you have purse issues, or am I the only one ruined by a grandmother's purse attachment?????