Sew Powerful Purses 132-133 (2025)

Here are 2 purse flaps using all kinds of scraps, covered in a blue embossed tulle and quilted and some added buttons. Donating to Sew Powerful Purse Project.

A fabric with a bee and the butterfly is part of the embossed tulle.

Another bee. June is Bee Challenge on the Sew Powerful Facebook Group.

Front slip pockets.

Back slip pockets.

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Sew Powerful Purse 131 (2025)

May's purse theme challenge on the Sew Powerful Facebook group was Butterflies. Each month there is a challenge, just for fun. June's theme is Bees. 3 of my butterfly purses that I made in the past were featured on the post announcing this challenge. We can add our challenge purses anytime to the album in the group, so I will add this one there now as I recently got it finished.

The fabric I used for the body is the same home dec fabric I used for the purses I posted yesterday.

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Sew Powerful Purses 129-130 (2025)

I was playing and experimenting again. I had seen a technique using a paper napkin that was added to paper or cloth and I wanted to try it. A plastic food wrap was ironed on over the napkin and fabric and somehow it fused together. That looked great, so I bought some napkins and clear food wrap and tried it. Utter failure! Nothing fused at all. The plastic wrap melted. I did cover the piece with a pressing sheet so it wouldn't make a mess when pressing. 

I saw a another way to adhere the napkin and tried it with the flap with balloons. I used Mod Podge fabric formula. It worked, but it wasn't perfect. I coated over the balloons too so it has a sort of vinyl feel and makes it more permanent as well. Need more practice to get better at it.

The napkin with Farm Fresh Flowers on it, I decided to just use iron on vinyl (Pellon brand) and it worked too, although it is a bit stiffer than the Mod Podge. 

On both flaps I used a light canvas material that I had added textured color to so it wasn't so stark white. The colored textures show through the napkins which I like. It was a fun experiment and I would like to perfect it with more practice. I was thinking I could use some fun decorative papers as well, although being thicker than a napkin the textured colors wouldn't show through and it might make for a stiffer flap, so playing with scraps first I would see what I think.

If you Google this technique, you will also find there are lots of gorgeous paper napkins for sale as well, but rather pricey for just a few paper napkins. I went to Dollar Tree and found these for $1.25 a package and often there are more than one image per napkin too. I got 4 of the same image on each Flower napkin, one image of the balloons, but the rest of the napkin had borders of stars that could be used too. I watched a few videos and in the end did my own thing as the plastic wrap didn't work for me. Maybe my iron was too hot? Maybe because I painted the textures on the fabric the plastic wrap didn't want to adhere? More experimenting required for sure.

These turned out rather well for a first attempt.

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Sew Powerful Purses #125-128 (2025)

4 more purses made with selvages to donate to Sew Powerful Purse Project.

Small panel squares in the center with selvages sewn all around the flaps.

Light canvas fabric for the purse bodies.

Added back slip pockets too.

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Seed Packets Quilt Top

I made the blocks for this years ago and finally added a couple simple borders. I donated this top to Wrap the World With Quilts recently. A volunteer will quilt it.

I forgot to measure this top, but it is about 36" x 49".

Seed packets with courthouse steps strips.

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Sew Powerful Purses #120-124 (2025)

5 more selvage flap purses finished. I used a light canvas fabric for the purse bodies. Donating these to Sew Powerful Purse Project.

I started with a small panel from a fabric for the center. Using up selvages for a scrappy look.

The front pockets and flap lining.

All the backs look like this with the added pocket.

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Sew Powerful Purses #115-119 (2025)

More of the appliqué house blocks turned into purse flaps. I used the green print home dec fabric for the bodies that I showed the other day with selvage flaps.

Donating to Sew Powerful Purse Project.

Appliqué houses with fabric scraps surrounding the block.

I was given a stack of cut squares in what look like African print fabrics and I made the patchwork flap using them.

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Easygoing Swoncho #2 (Knit)

I knit another Easygoing Swoncho (sweater-poncho combo) and this time I made the sleeves longer. On the first one I ran out of yarn, so the sleeves were short, but for this Swoncho, I wanted to destash some more yarn, so I used a variety of yarn that I had on hand and combined yarns and knit until I ran out of yarn and then added another yarn, giving this swoncho a variegated stripe look. I like how the colors of yarn blended. After I blocked it the neckline was a bit too loose, causing it to fall off my shoulders when worn. I will have to adjust that and perhaps take a few stitches in to tighten that area up before I can wear it in the fall.

This is a Free Pattern from Cascade Yarns.

I held 2 yarns together as I knit this in the round. I added a new yarn when I ran out of yarn.

I am knitting a different sweater now using all the partial and miscellaneous skeins of yarn that I have on hand to create a rather scrappy colorful looking sweater. Sort of like Joseph's Coat of Many Colors, only it's knit rather than sewn and a pullover sweater rather than a coat. I do like colorful and scrappy, and using up my yarn stash is a huge bonus rather than buying lots of skeins of just one color. If I can use up my fabric to make scrappy quilts and bags, then why not do the same with my yarn scraps?

Happy knitting, crocheting, and sewing!

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Sew Powerful Purses #110-114 (2025)

I have been busy making selvage flaps for the Sew Powerful purses lately. I had a huge bag stuffed with selvages that I have been collecting, along with what a couple of friends had given to me too, so it was time to turn those selvages into some purse flaps! I made a whopping 83 flaps (not including several selvage flaps I had already made months ago)!!! Selvages made good sturdy flaps. 

I paired these with a green print home dec fabric I had been given. These will be donated to Sew Powerful Purse Project. I will donate some through Sew Powerful to girls in South Africa too as Sew Powerful has teamed up with Blessman International and is also asking for some purses for girls there so they too can stay in school. I donated some purses to them in the last box I sent, so I will choose a few to give to them from the next box of purses I mail too.

Home dec fabric for all the bodies. The linings were all similar to these too.

The backs all look like this with an added pocket.

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Patchouli Moon Studio~ Sew Powerful Purse #109 (2025)

Another purse flap made with a quilt block that I pick up on the freebie table at a quilt group quite a while ago from a stack of quilt blocks. I added a few fabric scraps to bring it up to the flap size and completed the rest of the purse using upcycled black denim jeans. Donating this purse to Sew Powerful Purse Project.

Quilt block flap and webbing that I joined together to make the correct length for the strap. When I save a few lengths of webbing that is not long enough for the strap, I join them together to create the length needed and that way I don't waste any webbing at all. I sew fabric or in this case ribbon to cover the joined webbing and sometimes I have more than one join, depending on the webbing lengths I have. The fabric or ribbon adds a bit of color and interest to the strap too😉. I sewed that center button on creating a little flower, if you look closer you will see the flower.⁕

Extra front pockets when I use the front jeans pockets for the purse front.

I made a back pocket here, but sometimes the jean back pocket is used if it fits.

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Scrappy Purple Quilt Top with Sunflower Appliqué

I made a scrappy quilt top using up my purple scraps and then added a sunflower appliqué in the corner. I donated this to Wrap the World With Quilts. They have volunteers who will quilt it and then it will be donated to someone. 

The quilt top measures 49" x 49". It feels good to use up so many scraps to create a quilt. It takes more time to sew scrappy like this, but also it's more rewarding to use scraps.

Sunflower in upper left in this photo. I wasn't sure if adding more sunflowers would be too much with all the scrappiness of this quilt already, so decided on just one. 

I used a fusible web and cut out the center of the fusible web so the sunflower wasn't too stiff once I fused it, but you can see the edges of the petals are darker as the fusible web shows through. Never had that happen before. Hopefully it will be quilted nicely and won't be as noticeable. The fusible web also wasn't adhering as well as it should. It could be the batik fabric it didn't adhere to well?

Lots of different shades of purples in these scraps.

The quilt can be placed with the sunflower in the lower left corner like this or the upper left as in the first photo, or turn it again so the sunflower is in the lower or upper right corner. 

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Patchouli Moon Studio~ Sew Powerful Purse #108 (2025)

Scrappy flap with upcycled denim jeans for the purse body. Donating this to Sew Powerful Purse Project.

I love using up scraps to create the purse flap. I also wanted to use up some small squares that I cut from yardage that had sweet prints like this basket of flowers. Other squares on the same fabric yardage are a few different hearts, gift wrapped presents, various single flowers, coffee pot with cup and saucer, plates of sweet desserts like a slice of cake and a cupcake. They all have the colors like this basket of flowers with orange, pink, white and a touch of purple in some. I was able to make quite a lot of purse flaps using those square prints along with fabric scraps or selvages. I used up most of my bag of selvages just making those flaps! Yay!

Upcycling denim jeans is a great way to use up jeans that were given to me by hubby and daughter. I have some jeans of my own that I will upcycle one day too, but I wanted to use up the ones I have been given first.

Back pocket.

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