Sweater Purse

I found some great blogs about how to make a purse from a sweater and decided to try it for myself.  This sweater was one that I had really liked and when it did that dreadful sweater shrink thing, I decided to save it and remake it into something else.  That and an old belt and a new purse was born.  I didn't take pictures of the process because I didn't think I would be sharing this as a project but it turned out so well that I decided to go ahead and share with links to the blogs that I followed.  The first blog was sarahdudik yellow-sweater-turns-into-a-bag-with-pockets/.  This blog led me to the second blog at lemonsqueezyhome/purse-week-kick-off.  I followed the main idea in both blogs but threw in my own changes.  My purse pieces ended up measuring about 13" x 11".  I used an old belt for the handles and with the little left over piece at the end of the belt I made a closure tab with a snap hammered in.  I'm very happy with how it turned out and can't wait to make some more!  A shot of the lining-I used a fat quarter.

 

Close up of the handles and closure.

 

Happy sewing!

Sew easy tote-from a skirt and a belt

It's summer, and if you're like me, you really don't have a lot of time for making stuff.  But also, if you're like me, you're prone to "making stuff" withdrawals.  So here is a super easy project that you can whip up in no time.

Step 1.  (and this is the really hard part)  Go thrift store shopping.  Or yard sale-ing.  Or root through your closet.  And find a cute little mini skirt and a belt that no one is wearing.  I've made these using adult size skirts-this tutorial features a child size skirt.  If you go with an adult size, I recommend staying with a small size as the larger sizes tend to get too wide for the length-which will just make your bag very awkward.

Step 2.  Turn the skirt inside out and sew the bottom of the skirt together.  I sewed this seam twice to reinforce it.

Step 3.  (optional)  Sew a triangle at the bottom corners of your bag.  This will help to give it more of a base.

Step 4.  Prepare your belt.  I had to take a seam ripper to mine to take it apart and remove the hardware.  (Save the hardware, you can use it in another project.)

         Then, I cut my belt in half.

Step 5.  Pin your new handles to your bag.  Usually I carefully measure everything.  Today I just eyeballed it and pinned them in place.

        Sew the handles in place and you are done!  Wasn't that super easy?

Basic Denim Patchwork Tote with Applique

Hello all, today we are going to make a very useful tote from some not so useful anymore jeans.

BODY OF BAG:
First you will need to cut 8 squares of denim.  I cut mine 7" square, which resulted in a 12' square bag, with 1/2" seam allowances.
Then lay out your squares.

 Stitch together, press open seam allowances and topstitch 1/8" from each side of seam.  The topstitching accomplishes a couple of things here, it reinforces the seams, helps the seams lay neater since this bag is not lined inside, and adds a little more detail.  I choose to topstitch mine with pink thread to complement my applique.

You would think that pink thread on blue denim would show up better but no.  Squint real hard, maybe you will be able to see it. :)
APPLIQUE:
Now to add the bird applique.  You can find the pattern here. bird applique
Cut one of the body and one of the wing.

First, using a zigzag stitch, stitch the wing to the body.  Like so.

Then, zigzag stitch the body to the bag.  When placing the bird on the bag, keep in mind that you will "lose" about an inch from the bottom of the bag.  (This happens after adding the corner gussets to create a base for the bag.)

After the bird is all stitched on, find a button for his eye and stitch that on.  (For some reason I always wait to do this last. But go ahead, save yourself a lot of pain and suffering and do it now.)

Next, stitch the bottom seam, press, and topstitch.  Then stitch the side seams.

Now we need to make a gusset to help give the tote a bottom.  With the bag wrong side out, line up the side seam to the bottom seam to create a triangle, pin, and mark 1" from the outside edge.  Here's a picture to help.

Stitch the line that you marked.  Turn it right side out to make sure that everything stayed lined up, then back to wrong side out to trim  the bulk of the "triangle" away.  Then back to right side out.

Turn under about 1/2" inch on top side of bag and hem.

HANDLES:
Now cut two strips of denim that measure about 4"x27".  Press the strips in half long ways, then fold in from each side to meet the first press, and press.  It should look like this.

Fold it all together and topstitch down each side of handle about 1/4" from edge.

Now, at the top of the bag, measure in 1 1/2" from each side seam and place a pin.  I'm going to call this a "pin fence".  Normally I would say measure and pin the handle to the bag, but that many layers of denim is awful thick to pin through.  So, I make a pin fence and hold the handle in place while I stitch it.

There are a couple of methods you could use to attach the handle.  I choose to simply stitch over the hem stitching, going back and forth a couple of times.

And that's it.  Now you can go shopping with your brand new tote!

I plan on adding some more applique patterns in the future so keep watching for them. :)