Not Yo' Momma's Handbag...

Mary Jo's Cloth Store has been getting ready for spring. Lot's of new choices in the season's hottest colors are in, stocked and ready for you to take home! We have 32,000 feet of floor space, the choices at the store and online are amazing. Log onto the website to check out the newest and coolest arrivals.

Today we are featuring a gal who makes fantastic handbags. Her company is called "Not Yo' Momma's Handbag". She sells on Etsy and posts regular articles about these sweet bags on her blog.
Miss Ellen is an inspired lady. She spends her days creating quirky handbags, photographing, traveling and caring for her family. We know of Ellen because she frequently comments on our Mary Jo's Cloth Design Blog. She is sweet, sunny and writes the word “smiles” often. Delightful. We thought it would be fun to share Ellen’s passion for her funky and creative handbags (she uses Mary Jo’s Fabric for the linings of her handbags and is a fan of our store and the blog.)
These are her words, from her Blog, unedited....
Smiles...that's what I love!
I am a mother, wife, sister, friend, mentor, student, traveler, daughter, and photographer. That makes me an observer as well as a participant in life.
I am constantly amazed and inspired by the talent I find on Etsy....amazing truly amazing how creative my fellow Etsy-ers are...smiles.
For many of us a pair of cut-offs are synonymous with comfortable, casual living...
so, it only made sense that at some point I would do something with that memory.
This is that something...
Not Yo Mommas Handbag is a series of handbag creations
that I have named for the friends, family and mentors in my life...
They are all different, as the women they are named for...
they are tough as nails, but sweet on the inside...

Each NYMH comes with a new name, background description, and a special token of appreciation for the new owner. If you would like to know a little more about my purses, their names, how they are made, I write about it nearly everyday.....
check out my blog.;

this jeans purse thing....
started as a way to make something for me... yep, just for me...
and then, things started to happen.
I would get comments from strangers, saying how much they loved that cute purse...
did you make it?.....where can I get me one of those...? My dear sweet baboo would look at me with those beautiful blue eyes and say "You know....you might want to think about marketing those things...just thinkin'..."
Well...I do just that now. But just in case you have some time... and a creative bent... and need a purse. Here's how I did it;
1. I went to Goodwill .
browsed the children's section, and bought 2 small jeans, one
smaller than the other (slightly).
2. Then I perused the purse section in search of handles that I liked.
3. $6.98 later, I went home to start the assembly.
4. Take the smaller of the 2 jeans, turn them inside out,
and put inside of the larger pair, cut them to "shorts-wearin' length".
5. Sew up the legs of the smaller/inside pair, securely, as this seam
will hold all your stuff in.....
6. Ravel the cut ends of the larger/outside pair so that they remind you of
jeans you used to fit into....(sniff).
7. Take 4 belt loops off the smaller/inside pair
for use in securing your handles to the purse.8. Put the smaller pair back inside the larger, pin the
belt loops/handle loops where you
want them to hold the handle in place,
and then start sewing the whole thing along
the top waistband
(match the gold jean thread as close as possible).
I used some of the left over leg material for the makeup case. The jeans on the inside will provide lots of pockets for your stuff and if you are lucky,
and find a small pair of "carpenter's pants" to use..... you will also have a hammer loop to hold your hair brush (sweet!)
Smiles.

On her blog she features this quote…
Success means having the courage,
the determination,
and the will
to become the person
you believe you were meant to be.
-George Sheehan
Keep up the great and inspired work Ellen. We appreciate your enthusiasm for sewing and for living a creative life!

Did you know we have been posting some great new "Sale" fabric on our “Limited Edition” page? Wow, the bargains are amazing. Take the time to really click around, today I saw some incredible tapestry fabric, cheap! It could be just the right choice for recovering your dining room chairs, a pillow or even a table topper. Take the time to look carefully, you will save a lot of dough!