My name is Nancy O'Rourke. My shop is Twice Nice Purses.
Etsy Shop Twice Nice Purses
I love to create new things from repurposed materials. I am hard working, creative, detail oriented and value family and personal relationships. I have been married to my high school sweetheart for 29 years and have two grown kids who I adore.
I teach a multiage class of first and second graders. I love my job. My students make me laugh every day!
My husband came up with my shop name to celebrate and acknowledge my use of repurposed wool.
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| Purple Flower Purse |
My mom was incredibly creative and taught me how to batik, sew, tie-dye, and weave. I have enjoyed quilting and sewing for as long as I can remember. About 4 years ago, one of my students showed me his handmade felted fabric and gave me a photo album with a beautiful needle felted design. I was so intrigued with the process, I went on line and watched a few videos. I was hooked!
I am inspired by lots of things including the colors in the gardens around my house, the shapes of the purses I choose and the roving I use for my needle felted designs. My family provides great feedback whenever I start a new purse. I have pulled out lots of designs and started all over again more times than I want to count!
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| Felted Black & Blue purse |
My creations can be found in my Esty shop Twice Nice Purses and on my FB page. I also participate in local craft fairs in southern Maine during the holiday season.
I have several purses that I am really proud of. (They are the one pictured here in the feature.)
They all show very different sides of my personality and style!
My purses are all handmade. Each one can take as long as 8-10 hours to complete. I shop the local thrift shops to purchase my wool. I love to buy wool coats because they have lots of fabric for me to work with but skirts, jackets, sweaters and blazers work, too. I take the clothing apart, wash it several times and machine dry it, too. I have lots of patterns to choose from. Once I choose a pattern and the roving colors, I start needle felting the design.
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| Black & Red Flowers Purse |
Needle felting involves sharp needles, wool roving and fabric. To complete a purse design, I poke the roving through the wool with my needles hundreds and hundreds of times. I started with one needle. Then i discovered that there were other felting tools. Now I use 2 tools: one has 3 needles and the other has five. The needles push part of the roving through the fabric, which helps hold the design in place. Once the felting is done, I sew the purse together and add a lining. Although it is a time consuming process, I love it!
Sometimes I wish I knew how to knit. I love felted bowls and haven't been happy with the ones I made from wet felting or needle felting!
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| Pink Paisley Purse |
2 comments:
Great feature. Nice to see the story. I've seen her purses on Etsy and I've always admired them.
Thanks Chrissy-jo for the feature!
Thanks for your comments Sheryl:))
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