Conspiracy theory
I’m convinced this purse is conspiring to drive me nuts. “What’s the deal!?” you must be saying to yourselves….I agree…I’ve said that many, MANY times! I swear when I’ve finished this thing I’m going to throw it in the corner and stick my tongue out at it. So there! Sit there all by yourself you are going to be difficult!!! Actually, I think I should throw a grand parade and proudly display this little monster so everyone can see what a week of torture and $40 of sewing machine repairs produces. 
I have learned a valuable lesson during this experience — if I like the design of something but would like to tweak it a bit then I should attempt to make it the way it was originally designed FIRST before tweaking it. There are reasons why the designer made it the way it is. Unfortunately I had this realization after I’ve stitched most of it together. But I have found the solution and currently taking the whole thing apart to fix it. I must persevere! As Tim Gunn would say “Make it work!”
Any way, now you know what I’ve been doing. There has been a bright spot in my week — got some new music and HIGHLY recommend the following:
The lead singer of Train has gone solo and it’s great! Pat Monahan - Last of Seven
Jet - Get Born This has been out for awhile so you’ve probably already heard of them and/or have it. I love it! Great stuff! If you listen to “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” and not have the urge to dance and toss your hair around wildly then there is something wrong with you. Go to the doctor immediately!
Well, I’ve got to get back to my insanity. I hope you are having a great day!
Getting back on track…slowly
Five days and $40 later I will have my sewing machine back (I’m going to pick it up this afternoon).
I promise I will obey the #1 Sewing Rule for now on: Never sew when tired.
Which is why I have to go to Starbucks BEFORE picking up the sewing machine…because we are out of coffee. GASP! I know! It’s like not having…oxygen! Can’t function without it! I firmly placed blame on my husband, Josh, this morning for this catastrophic event. He didn’t tell me that we were down to the last bag of coffee so I could pick some up before running out. AND we are down to the last 10 beans (seriously!) so I couldn’t even make one cup of coffee! I think he should have to do jail time for such an offense. I DEMAND JUSTICE! Okay…must leave now…loosing control of my emotions…must have caffeine soon…
The purse won
I fought the purse…and the purse won. 
It’s a very deceptive purse…while I was at lunch it broke my sewing machine! It showed me who’s boss! I have no idea what the problem is - the stitches are getting knotted up inside the machine. I’ve tried everything. (sigh) I will have to take the machine to get serviced. I just hope it won’t take too long. Sometimes these places are three weeks behind on service requests. Yikes!
Shhh…I’m going to let you in on a secret…little does purse know but I have another sewing machine…it may have won that battle but the war is not over yet!!
As the purse turns
The purse drama continues…I may have beat the purse in one challenge yesterday but I was defeated last night. So tired…had to go bed. I was starting to go cross-eyed and couldn’t think straight anymore so it won. The problem is I am altering the pattern a little and that gets complicated. Of course I wouldn’t make it the standard way the first time I make it — I have to ((shake)) things up and make it the way I want it. And I wouldn’t start with a pattern I’ve already made…nooooo…I have to try something new. So silly and stubborn…so typical of me.
Getting a late start today — didn’t sleep well so my head is still in a fog– so will post it as soon as it’s done.
Sew confused…
Okay, so I thought I would finish the bag this afternoon. I’ve hit a wall and can’t for the life of me figure out how to get two of the pieces together without making it a jumbled mess. I’m sew confused!! So I am going to take it to the sewing gurus tomorrow (Fri.) and ask them for their help. So anticipate a picture tomorrow (hopefully)!
6:07pm update… I figured it out!! I had to walk away from it for awhile - frustration was getting the better part of me. I’d like to think that I walked away from it, then snuck up on it, arm-wrestled into submission and pinned it down. (< Holding my arms up in the air >) TIFFANY IS THE WINNER OF THIS CHALLENGE! Whew! Who said I needed to go talk to those sewing gurus?! Puhh! I’m offended!
I did get a few injuries during the fight - a couple of bleeding spots from stick-pins and a burn on my pointer finger. Note to self: DO NOT iron your finger — only the fabric. Got it. Moving on.
Come to think of it… I figured it out when the Footloose sound track started playing on my i-Tunes…coincidence?? I think not!! I love me some Kevin Bacon.
Okay, I”m going to trudge on. I WILL finish this bag tonight!!! Persevere! But first I have to go cook some dinner. Gah! 
Sew, sew, sew my purse…
…gently down the fabric…merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily…life is but a dream!
Do you like my new version of that old song? That is my motivation music lately. Actually my motivation music has been a strange mix of AC/DC, Dave Matthews, and INXS — strange mix, don’t you think?! I’m taking a short break from sewing to write this quick update. I should finish the bag this afternoon which I will share a picture with you.
I spent most of yesterday afternoon happily sewing which was peppered with enthusiasm, confusion, cursing, and then back to enthusiam. I ended the evening with confusion thinking I sewed the wrong things together and then I threw in the towel. I told Josh that the universal #1 rule of sewing should be: Never ever sew when you are tired. Bad, bad, bad mixture.
Also, thank you everyone who took the surveys! I really do appreciate your time and the information will be most helpful. I’m so glad I setup those surveys because it is giving me a lot of insight as to what colors will be popular. And I’m really surprised at some of the results — it proved me wrong on a couple of assumptions.
Note: Some of you may not have noticed that there are three surveys. Be sure you take the Colors and Shapes survey — I think five of you missed that one. If you haven’t done them yet there is still time! Thanks again!
I’ll check in with you later! I hope you are having a great day! 
Celebration dance!
Visualize a celebration dance, squeeling, and clapping…because that’s what I did today when I FINALLY got the custom garment labels for my handbags! And they look great! Whew! I’m so happy they are finally here because that was holding up my sewing process. So now the social calendar is officially closed (okay, limited) and the sweat shop will begin in the Evitt home. Now I have to break it to Josh that he has to do all the cooking and cleaning… (yeah right!).
Survey #3 - Jewelry
It’s survey time again! I’m just so curious!!! I need answers…I need the truth! (You can’t handle the truth! — what movie was that from? Anyone?)
Click here for the survey. I think this is the last one…but I’m not making any promises! Again, thanks so much for your time! I’m really looking forward to seeing the results. Maybe I’ll have a little Family Feud fun with the results at my grand opening….hmmm…maybe I’ll give discount coupons to the first person that answer the questions correctly…YES, that’s what I’ll do!
Also, please feel free to share this with your friends/co-workers. The more answers the better!
I hope you are having a great day!
Survey # 2 - Purses
Hello ladies!
Yesterday I posted a link for a survey about colors and shapes. If you haven’t see it yet then please scroll down and check it out!
Today’s survery is about purses. If you don’t mind please take a few moments to fill out this survey for me.
I greatly appreciate it!!
Getting to know you…
Ladies, I’m curious…what is your favorite color? What shapes do you like? What shape are you? What type of jewelry do you like? What color of purses do you prefer? ……Why you ask?……. These are examples of questions I have put in a couple of surveys for you to take so I can understand your likes and dislikes. If you have a moment please take the following survey on colors and shapes: Survey
Thanks for your time!
Hint: Tomorrow there will be a link for a survey about purses. And then there will be a jewelry survey on Thursday. All surveys will be available for you to take until I close them (I’ll post a date later).
When I cure my curiosities then I will begin a series of articles of fall fashion and helpful tips when shopping. I can’t wait to share some of this info! Thanks again for your input!