Trio of PS Accessories

I just finished my Penn State floppy hat, necklaces and purse to take to the game this weekend.  Of course I learned some things along the way and thought I'd share my 5 things I learned by making these.

1. I started making the necklaces first while I was on a roll after the Brown's training camp.  I'm getting down to the bottom of my pile of wooden beads so I ended up enlarging the holes in most of these.  In case any of you haven't made these before, here's the drill.  Cut a strip of material, sew length-wise and turn right side out.  Then you proceed to stuff it with a marble and feed the bead on the outside of the tube.  Mine were pretty tight so the last one stayed in place.  I used my glue to help attach the crimper to the end.  What I learned from this part is not to use any more glue than I absolutely need.  I had to clean it up and put new jump rings on after the first ones broke off. 
2. The next thing I did was make my floppy hat.  I've made one before but scaled back on the brim.  This time I left it as long as it came.  With this hat, once you get the pattern made, you're home free.  I did have one glitch and from this I learned to always store my grommet tools together with the grommets in one place, duh... 
3. The purse was what I put off the longest, mainly because I was trying to work it out in my head first how to do it.  The pattern was only for part of it.  I wanted to add an inside pocket and an outside flap to hold cards.  All that thinking seemed to help because once I started it, I just took my time and worked through it.
4. Believe or not the one thing I messed up on the purse was the part that was the easiest.  The strap was supposed to be 31" but that didn't seem long enough so I cut it at 34".  Well, I should have left it the full 42" like I had originally cut because it was too short.  Luckily I had another long tube that was left over from the necklaces that I could use.  Always make sure before you cut.  Remember the carpenter's rule  -  measure twice, cut once.
5. I might be just on a roll but things are working pretty well for me lately.  Or maybe it's the attitude that I can do anything that has helped.  Every since the little landscape, I've been empowered.  I learned to keep that positive approach to my projects.