A Coin Purse And Apple Pie!

This little purse has been on my "make" list since I made one in 2014 for my granddaughter's 11th birthday - she is 19 now! You can read about it right here on my old blog.

This canvas fabric by Cosmo has been in my stash for years.

I did a couple things differently from the last time I used this pattern:

1. I did not line the outer fabric with fusible fleece, which is very bulky. 

2. The tutorial gives instructions for gluing the fabric to the clasp, but I chose to sew it on instead using two strands of embroidery floss, which you can see in the photo above. There are several good tutorial posts and videos showing how to do this.

I bought several of these clasps from Sugar Carousel on Etsy

I used quilting cotton for the inside and lined it with light fusible interfacing.  I will try to hide the inside stitches next time. I will also work on the pattern to make it fit this particular clasp more perfectly. There are some gaps on the side upper corners.

Fits nicely into my new cross-body bag (purchased on Amazon)

More coin purses in the works!

The tutorial and pattern are found on this post by Sweet Bee Buzzings. My daughter saw my Instagram post and now she wants one. Then she showed the photo to The Littlest Granddaughter, and she said "Is that for me?" so more fabric has been pulled to make my girls happy!

After all that work, I needed sustenance! I started to make a Fresh Apple Cake, but my DIY Guy walked in, saw the apples and baking ingredients and got excited about pie, so that is what I made instead. It is my favorite apple pie recipe, and I call it Brown Sugar Apple Pie, even though it has both kinds of sugar. It is based on the popular Apple Pie by Grandma Ople on Allrecipes. I make it a little differently with added spices. If you want to try my version, here is the recipe:

Brown Sugar Apple Pie

4 cups chopped or sliced thin apples

1/2 cup salted butter*

3 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

Heaping teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 cup water

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 9-inch double pie crust

*If you use unsalted butter, add 1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 425°. Prepare pie crust for double crust and set aside.

Melt butter in saucepan, add flour and stir to form paste, cook a couple minutes over low heat. Add sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, and water, bring to boil. Add apples, lower heat, and simmer 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Roll out and place bottom crust in pie pan. Add apple mixture. Prepare top crust and place on top of apples. Crimp edges and cut slits or shapes in several places.

Bake at 425° for 10 minutes then reduce heat to 350°. (I place mine on a rack close to the bottom of the oven. It seems to cook the apples better and the crust edges don't brown as quickly.) Bake until apples are tender and juices are bubbling through crust. Mine is in the oven about an hour total. Place on wire rack to cool.