HOW I MADE OH MY LOVELY HANDBAG!

I had a paisley that just wasn't working for me as a scarf because of its colors so one day the inspiration hit me -- cut it up! (My sister in law was horrified that I did that!) But I don't just want to own things but have fun with them and let me tell you, i sure had fun, fun, fun with this one! first, Dhani Ram cut it up according to my specifications, -- he does a great job matching up patterns in the paisley -- and then I embroidered it. I just happened to have the thick and fine silken thread, multicolored wool that became the basis for the embroidery. Meera helped me here, as she always does, with my knitting projects, too. I had fun picking out the semi-precious stones to embroider on to it -- amber, lapis, natural ruby, turquoise. the hanging tassels are sterling silver wire bending that I learned two years ago in a jewelry class. I don't have pictures of it yet but Dhani Ram sewed little bags of the remnants to go inside the big to organize my stuff. There is something very satisfying and vain to know that no other girl (yes, I think of myself as a girl, now that I have graduated after my illness in which I was an old lady to girlhood!) has a bag like this!  I went from being a bag, to making one.