Sew Powerful Purses #216-221 for 2026

Six more purses to donate to Sew Powerful Purse Project.

My friend Tara donated some fabric to me recently and I made these purses using some of the fabric she gave me. I added a starfish appliqué to each flap. The whale & dolphin fabric I used for the purses bodies and I made the straps using the fabric too. 

I used an Asian fabric for the bodies and one strap and scraps for the flap, along with other fabric scraps I had.

Tara had some pieces of sewn strips in the fabrics she gave to me, so I made a couple of flaps. I added some vertical strips to the sides of the flap on the right. I added some decorative stitching, yarn couching, rickrack and buttons for added interest. Thanks Tara for the fabric! I have some more purses to finish from other fabrics she gave to me.

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Sew Powerful Purses #213-215 for 2026

Here are 3 more purses I am donating to Sew Powerful Purse Project. All have an African woman canvas print that was meant to be framed, but I cut the height down to use as a flap and on the first one I also need to add some width to the flap, so I sewed some fabric to the sides and the back top of each flap. I didn't want any heads cut off 😜. I used up all the canvas prints on purses that I had now. 

I had a similar print to this I showed last time I posted. This one is showing her back instead of her front.

I love the colorful head piece.

This is my favorite one with this beautiful woman all the wonderful words printed all over it.

Here is the full flap to see as some of the top does fold to the back side.

The flap lining and the front pocket. I used a black fabric that I painted with paint sticks using a rubbing texture.

This photos shows the purse body fabric and the flap.

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Sew Powerful Purses #205-212 for 2026

8 purses to donate to Sew Powerful Purse Project. All are African women prints that were meant for framing. I cut down the height on them all so their heads wouldn't get cut off on the front and I added a strip of fabric to the back that doesn't show on the front.

I like the look of this print and the background color.

These and others below are silhouettes of women. I am finally using the black-orange-yellow print for the purse bodies. I have had that print for many years. It looks like an African print to me.

The print in the center has rhinestones in the print and I added some hotfix crystals over some of the print for extra bling, although you really cannot see it well in the photo, but it is pretty.

Her dress was full length before I had to trim it for the flap.

I like the animals in the background of this print.

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Sew Powerful Purses #200-204 for 2026

5 more purses to donate to Sew Powerful Purse Project. I completed over 200 purses now and I have cut out probably another 200+ purse kits to sew for the rest of the year. The September Sew-a-thon and Fundraiser are coming up in September, so I will be ready to sew those kits I have waiting then. The Fundraiser part starts in August-September and the sewing part is in September only. I wonder how many purses I can complete in the month of September this year? Last year I was one of the top ten purses makers, completing 160 purses for the month of September. Can I top last year's number? I hope so.

 I pained the background using a stencil and fabric paint and quilted the flap too. I fussy cut the dress form from a piece of fabric and appliquéd it in place. I had a gold plastic sewing needle and pair of scissors that I stitched on by hand for added bling.

Another X-Block quilt block with added fabrics around it to make it large enough for the flap. I shared one of these recently and this is another one I had made into a flap.

I don't recall where I got this fabric, but thought it was perfect for a flap. I had to cut the height of the fabric down a few inches. The fabric showed their entire skirts, making it too tall to use for the flap. 

I used a quilt block I had and a 4-patch quilt block I had and sewed scraps around to create these two flaps. 

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Sew Powerful Purses #196-199 for 2026

Four more purses to donate to Sew Powerful Purse Project. Scrappy pieced flaps, with one appliqué butterfly.

Bear Paw quilt block and scraps.

Scrappy background with added appliqué butterfly.

Pineapple quilt block on point.

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Sew Powerful Purses #192-195 for 2026

Four purses to donate to Sew Powerful Purse Project. Three scrappy pieced with appliqué flowers and one with stencil painted background. 

I used a Southwest stencil to paint the background. I added an appliqué flower and an embroidered flower patch over the appliqué flower. Quilted with serpentine stitch.  

Scrappy pieced background with Echinacea appliqué flower. 

Circle  appliqué flower (see tutorial under Tip of the Morning Tuesday).

Lining that matches my circle appliqué flower.

Another scrappy pieced background with Echinacea flower appliqué.

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Sew Powerful Purses #186-191 for 2026

6 more purses to donate to Sew Powerful Purse Project. Scrappy pieced flaps, most with appliqué flowers. I made fabric straps for 5 of these purses and one I used a webbing strap.

Echinacea flower is my favorite flower (sunflowers are a favorite flower of mine too), so I added a large flower over his scrappy background. The brown cone didn't show as well as I liked, so I painted with a fabric maker around the top of the cone, giving it a bit of a halo effect.

This flower is made from wool fabric.

The flower petals is a felt material, while the center of the flower is cotton.

I cut this flower from a leftover piece that was quilted already.

Using some leftover fabrics for this flap.

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Sew Powerful Purses #183-185 for 2026

3 more purses finished to donate to Sew Powerful Purse Project.

Patchwork flap using leftovers from a tote bag I made years ago. I made the strap for this purse.

A cute dog lining flap. Thanks Tara for the dog fabric!

Scrappy pieced flap.

Scrappy pieced flap with a flower appliqué added. I made a matching strap too.

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Sew Powerful Purses #180-182 for 2026

3 more purses finished to donate to Sew Powerful Purse Project. Scrappy pieced flaps and my circle appliqué flowers again too. (see Tio of the Morning Tuesday for the tutorial for making flowers from circles).

I had a 4-patch already made, so set it on point and added other fabrics around it to make it flap size. Made the strap using scraps of purple fabrics sewn together.

A large circle flower with scrappy background. Even made a flower in the button. Used 2 webbing straps from a shopping bag and added fabric joins to create the correct length needed for the bag.

This is the flap lining that looks like my circle flowers.

Scrappy pieced flap to use up some red and pink scraps.

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Sew Powerful Purses #178-179 for 2026

2 more purses to donate to Sew Powerful Purse Project. 

I had this cool looking fabric print, so I used it for the flaps and part of one purse body too. The other purse body print went well with the purse flap too. 

I also used that same print for the flap linings too.

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