Saturday, August 31, 2024

Sew Powerful Purse #173 (2024)

Another purse made from upcycling denim jeans. For this purse I used a back pocket on the front flap and added a flower appliqué. And the front jean pocket I put on the back of this purse. It's kind of a Picasso art purse, 😂!!
 
The pocket has a shabby chic look to it with the worn bits.

flap up showing front of purse
I added an appliqué that I fussy cut out from some fabric with large motifs that all looked like appliqué. (I used lots of the other motifs from this fabric print as appliqué on several more purses I have made, the larger motifs I used on flaps, so be looking for those to be posted as I finish them).😉

back of purse showing pocket from the front of denim jeans
The back side has the front jeans pocket. 

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Thursday, August 29, 2024

Sew Powerful Purse #172 (2024)

For the flap of this purse, I heavily quilted tiny scrap pieces of batik fabrics, with a layer of tulle over the top. I added some yarn scraps too before adding the tulle and quilting the piece. The buttons were added when the flap was done. It's so satisfying to use even tiny bits of fabric pieces to create an artsy looking flap.


flap up showing the front of purse
The front of the purse has a front pocket. I chose corduroy to make the exterior of the purse.

back of purse with pocket
The back of the purse I added a slip pocket and apparently several pieces of lint too. 😂😄😆

Making this kind of scrappy flap is so much fun! No piecing required, just fabric scraps, a foundation fabric, optional yarn scraps, tulle or not (as long as you heavily quilt it you don't have to use tulle) and a few buttons for embellishing. This a great project for anyone who cannot throw away tiny scraps for fabric 😉.

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Sew Powerful Purses #170-171 (2024)

All Batik Purses! The flaps are made from batik scraps and the intermediate purse bodies are batik fabric, the straps are batik fabric too. Only the lining is not batik.


flaps up showing front of purse

back of purses showing back pockets

I think at this rate, I will have over 200 purses finished by the end of the year, but how many over 200 is anyone's guess. 
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Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Sew Powerful Purses #168-169 (2024)

Two denim purses that I made using denim jeans with added appliqué. 

The purse on the left I added a flower applique with selvage center. The purse on the right was made with raw edge denim scraps that I zigzagged around the edges and then quilted it before adding the appliqué flower and hearts. Very Shabby Chic.

On the back I used a front pocket on one purse and a back pocket on the other purse, and of course another appliqué flower too. 

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Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Sew Powerful Purses #162-167 (2024)

I made 6 Sailboat print purse flaps on these purses. I had this sailboat print a long time and wanted to use it up. I made a tote bag out of it (which is for sale in my PayHip Shop) and thought I would use the rest of the print to make purses. I got 6 purse flaps that I combined with upcycled denim jeans to make the purse bodies. These are sturdy purses as the sailboat print is heavier than quilting cotton fabric, more like a Twill.

Here are the first 3 purses. I like how each purse flap shows the sailboats a bit differently from the print.

back side showing back jean pockets
Backside with pockets. I used 2 denim back pockets from jeans and the other pocket is an added slip pocket.

3 more purses.

flaps up to show front of purses
Flaps up to show the front of the purses that have slip pockets.

back sides showing pockets of purses




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Sunday, August 25, 2024

Patchwork Batik Quilted Tote

I made a bag like this a few years ago in different batik fabrics and it was for sale in my Payhip Shop and a woman I know (although we haven't met in person) from Sew Powerful purse making bought it. 

A few weeks ago Sew Powerful had a purse making retreat in Texas and a couple dozen or so women got together there at the retreat. The woman who had purchased the patchwork tote from me was there and had her bag with her. Another woman who sat across from her got to chatting with her about the bag and found out I made it and she knew me from the Facebook group so asked about buying the same bag from me. So I made her this bag in colors she mentioned she liked. Funny thing is the woman who purchased this bag from me lived in Washington state in the same city I had lived in before moving to New Mexico. When I saw her address I knew the road she lived on. Small world! She has received this bag and loves it. That make me happy!!!

She likes purple, pink, turquoise, so I chose these batiks. This is the front of the bag showing some of the prints. I set the fabrics in a diagonal, so they don't all show on each side.

This is the back of the bag. I think I should have straightened the photo as it looks like it is tilting to the right. The zipper is straight, but photo make is look like it is leaning right. I added a vinyl zipper overlay to this zipper, which I didn't do on the first bag I made.

Inside the zipper pocket. I thought this fabric made a pretty lining.

One side view.

The other side view.

Inside is a divided slip pocket with pen pocket. I had forgotten to add the magnetic snap, so I had the sew on kind and sewed it on. Good to have those snaps on hand just in case. I guess my label by the snap wasn't placed exactly centered 😜. Too late now. That's a first!

Pen pocket and 2 other pockets.

I included a little wallet and a medium size Portable Pocket too.

Portable Pocket and Little Wallet. 

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Saturday, August 24, 2024

Sew Powerful Purses #160-161 (2024)

Two purses made with scraps of batik fabrics; one is all scrappy, not just the flap. I love using my scraps to make the flaps of these Sew Powerful Purses that I donate. I even made the second purse completely scrappy, not just the flap, but the front and back too. I may do that again, since I have enough scraps and every time I use some fabric scraps, new scraps are added to the scrap bags, so there is always a plentiful supply of scraps coming in and even though I use up scraps of fabric, it doesn't show in the amount of scraps that keep getting added to the scrap bags.😜

This purse I used a batik for the body that you see peeking out at the bottom here. I took more photos, but they turned out too out of focus, so I just have this photo. Only the flap on this one is scrappy.

This purse is completely scrappy on the exterior, except I use one fabric for the gusset. 

flap up shows the front of purse is also scrappy batik fabrics
The front of the purse is made from scrappy batik fabrics.

side view of one purse
Side view shows the gusset fabric, which is the same fabric I used for the exterior body of the first purse that only has a scrappy flap.

back of purse with scrappy batik fabric pocket
The back is scrappy and so is the back pocket. The pocket is quilted because this piece was something I pieced and quilted years ago to make into a zipper pouch and never did, so it now is a pocket instead. That worked out well to use that little quilted piece as a pocket. 

What do you think of the all scrappy made purse? Love it? Or is it just a bit too much scrappy? I will post this on the Sew Powerful Purse Project Facebook page and see if they like all scrappy or just flap scrappy. Either way it is scrappy happy, or happy scrappy 😁.





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Thursday, August 22, 2024

Sew Powerful Purses #156-159 (2024) in Hot Air Balloon Fabric


I'm Flying High, getting ready for the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta 2024 by making some hot air balloon purses. I took these to Old Town to sell them at Blue Portal Gift Shop. Any purses that I sell there I will donate the money to Sew Powerful Purse Project. It takes $10 to fill each purse with the hygiene items that the girls need each month. 

I had also taken in a couple of purses with a Kokopelli and batik scraps on the flap a couple months ago. So far, I am happy to report one of the Kokopelli purses sold and one hot air balloon purse sold, although I don't know which one. I am hoping the rest of the purses sell as we get closer to Balloon Fiesta (starts in 44 more days, for 9 days of balloon activities). If they do not sell then some sweet girls in Zambia will be receiving them to use. So it's a win-win either way. 

I love the fabric with hot air balloons in this print.

flap up
Front with pocket.

side view
Side of purse.

back with pocket
Back of purse with a slip pocket too.

3 more purses that I fussy cut the balloons from some fabric scraps and appliquéd them on to the purses flaps. Batik fabric scraps sewn before the appliqué was added.

Backs with pockets
Same fabric for the purses and all have pockets on the back too.





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Monday, August 19, 2024

It's a Jungle Blog Hop~ with Sew Powerful Purses #154-155 (2024)

Another fun blog hop and another reason to make some Sew Powerful purses to donate. Thanks Joan (of Moosestash Quilting) for hosting this blog hop!

I love sewing purses for the Sew Powerful Purse Project! It allows me to use up some fabric scraps (and create new scraps too 😜), but more importantly, I can help girls out in Zambia to allow them to stay in school every month (when they have their periods) so they can get an education and not miss school, since they aren't allowed to make up any missed days. The girls are so appreciative too! Plus, they employ local women to sew the reusable pads, make the laundry soap and the uniforms and this allows the women to earn a good wage (and many have been able to leave prostitution). All this is possible from donations from people like you. It costs $10 to fill each purse with the supplies that are needed for the girls. 

For this Blog Hop I made some purses using a fabric of small panels of elephants. I cut out 2 of the elephants and sewed scraps around it to create the flaps. That's 2 more purses to donate.
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