Pillsbury Bake-Off® Potholder Purse, Nashville Edition

Mr. Martha, oops, I mean Mr. GreenThumbWhiteApron sent me a little gift. He knew I had made a bag from potholders before, so he sent me his. I decided I'd make a tiny evening bag. 

First I decided on the message. I didn't have all of the letters I needed so I altered some. A "P" became a "2" and a sideways "N" became a "Z". Then I layed out some options.

Yuk. Nope. This is better. See the sideways "Z"?

I used jewelry glue to hold them in place. These potholders have a pocket, so I squeezed tight and pinched the glue into the fabric fibers.

Then I sewed them on. I passed the thread through the holes a couple of times, like sewing on a button.

Now what to do for a handle? Last time I used a sleeping bag zipper. In my scraps I found some really cool wide patterned shoe laces that I had got at Target.

How to attach? I cut one lace and pinned it on like this.

Boy is my photo color off. I sewed a straight stitch really close to the edge of the shoelace. Notice how I folded over the unfinished  top edge.

I pinned the shoelace to the other potholder. It looks skewed and wonky when pinned.

After I started sewing, I had to switch position of pins to fit under the presser foot and avoid the beads.

The machine didn't like sewing over the thick edge. "%@$#!" Seam ripper!

To finish, I tied the other shoelace to the loops on the potholder.

Hi big brother!

Can't wait to go out on the town in NASHVILLE because:

My recipe is here.