Making a purse

Usually, summer is full of creative ventures for me, this one has obviously been lacking except for making a few skirts. No painting, no collages, nothing but resumes and job apps 😉

So, I had a hankering to just make something. I love purses and had a piece of denim large enough for the outside of one (I thought) and some fabric left over from a skirt that could make the inside lining.

I started cutting. I do use patterns sometimes (like for shirts), but life is so exciting without them. The pictures will primarily walk you through the process, but some didn’t come out (OR I got so busy making that forgot to take one for a step).

Here are the pieces. The denim was just a small piece that I’d bought for some other project long forgotten. I used every bit of it except for the parts I clipped off for bulk and turning. That original piece determined all my plans and the size of the end product. NO room for messing up and having a denim purse in the end. The two long strips will be handles. The small pieces at the top will be the flap. The piece to the left will be the inside pockets.

Sides  and corners sewn up. Top edge turned. Maybe because it’s Calvin’s birthday, but I couldn’t help but wonder if this is what Luther’s hat looked like on the inside before it was turned.

The ends were clipped so it would turn inside out and not be so bulky.

Next is the handle. Turning a 1″ tube of denim is a total pain. I used to have some diaper pins that I used for turning long thin pieces like this. They are really helpful because they give you something to tug on and don’t come unclasped.

These are the pieces that will be the lining and pockets. Part of the reason I like my own creations are the pockets I can add.

Next are the little side pockets pinned to the lining. You can see iron marks if you look hard enough on the lining to make sure the size of that bottom matched the bottom of the denim bag.

I sewed a line down the middle of one of the pockets and measured for my blackberry on the other side.

Those get sewn down on three sides and I’m ready to tackle the middle pocket which has been the biggest unknown for me from the beginning – how it would turn out and work exactly.

Now that piece gets pinned and then sewn into place.

I didn’t clip these corners because this fabric is not nearly as heavy as the denim.

Ready to attach lining to purse.

Last piece is the flap. I’d have liked for it to be a little LONGER, but this was all the fabric I had left 😉

There was a pix of the flap pinned to bag for placement, but it looked like a shot from the X-Files. So it’s in photo heaven.  Here is the finished product that measures about  8″ x 8″ x 4″. The handle is 48″ long.