Behold the near-perfect purse. I now can see the contents and readily find the ringing cell phone, the pens, the reading glasses, etc., that used to hide in the black hole interior of whatever bag I was carrying. (The photo doesn’t do it justice.)

Le purse

No black hole in this purse

JJJJJJJJJoy Johnston—whom I met at the Maker Faire selling flamboyant hats next to her art car—sewed it for me. Made of reclaimed vinyl (left over from a car cover) and lined with denim from old blue jeans, its key feature is a row of pockets lining the interior. I might sew on another one soon.

Joy Johnston

Joy is best known for her colorful and whimsical hand-crocheted hats. She’s now making brimmed sunhats from scraps of colorful cloth and trimmings, which is what she also uses to make hand bags (mine was the most boring one she ever made). One features a wooly Polarfleece® lining of faux cowhide made from a child’s pants.

I think of this bag as my Birkin Bag, the expensive, massive Hermès bag supposedly inspired by ’60s pop icon Jane Birkin, who carried a woven Portuguese basket as her urban handbag. See her here.

Joy is charging an alarmingly low $20 for these bags. I wrote her a check for something higher, and it’s worth more than that. Visit her Etsy shop and do your Christmas shopping before she realizes she should charge much more.

She presented the finished handbag to me at the Rockridge Stroll street fair, where she shared a vendor table with the maker of the iBra.

Yes, these elegant tiny satin purses with beaded fringes are made of brassieres. (I’m not sure anyone would think otherwise.)

iBra

Can you envision bringing this to your next formal soiree?