The Trifecta Purse is finished!!

Our daughter, Kristy, just graduated from RN school and we are thrilled.  As part of her graduation present I made her a Trifecta purse.  Her choice of pattern and fabrics.  The fabric is an Amy Butler fabric and the lining is just a plain cotton fabric.  The Trifecta purse is somewhat overwhelming when you start out.  The myriad of pattern pieces can be confusing at times  – peltex, lining, interfacing, fusible fleece.  And sometimes I just had a hard time comprehending what the pattern wanted me to do – but I am sure that’s me and my age not anything to do with the pattern.  Kristy chose to have an inner credit card pocket with a small zippered purse inside.  That was interesting to make.  Now that I have done it once, and have stopped hyperventilating :), I think the next time the whole process will be much easier.  It is a wonderful purse – roomy, yet not too bulky and the two pockets in addition to the zippered pocket in the center which contains another zippered pocket makes it a very practical purse.  Kristy loves it.  I also made her a little “necessity” bag to match and a bag for her ipod and the cell phone.  Since I left off the front optional pocket, I could have made the front the same as the back and it would have cut down on a few extra pieces to deal with.

I encourage anybody to overcome their fear of this bag.  If I can do it, you can.  It is intimidating when you see all the cut out pieces….. but it’s worth it.  Also, DO read the instructions carefully.  I waited for the instructions to tell me to do something with the fleece only to find out 3/4 done with the purse that it was supposed to have been fused to my fabrics.  (It had been stated at the very beginning of the pattern and somehow I missed that.)  Now I needed to “squeeze” it into the bag after all was said and done.  Not the easiest task and at that point I was ready to throw the bag in the trash.  Fortunately, I did not.  So, here are some photos to encourage you.