Sew Powerful Purses #171-175 (2026)

5 purses to donate to Sew Powerful Purse Project.

Scrappy pieced purse flap with appliqué butterfly. Mostly batik fabrics.

Scrappy pieced purse flaps in pinks.

Scrappy pieced purse flaps with added circle appliqué on top that was fabric that I painted and stamped.

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Sew Powerful Purses #44-48 (for 2026)

5 more purses to donate to Sew Powerful Purse Project. I painted the white canvas material on all 5 flaps using stencils and fabric paints and then appliquéd the hearts on top.

I had made these hearts a decade or 2 ago? Been so long I forgot, so when I found these hearts, I knew I needed to add them to the purse flaps. These fit the monthly challenge of Love is in the Air at the Facebook group. The heart has one velvet fabric in the center of the left heart and a batik fabric in the right heart and both have a wool/rayon blend felt that I hand dyed and then cut the hearts out, that surround the hearts. I added sequins and beads on the left heart and beads and French knots on the right heart. After hand stitching the hearts in place, I added hotfix crystals around the hearts. When the light hits the crystals, they sparkle so pretty.

These 2 hearts are similar to the other 2. I stitched seed stitches in variegated thread on the right heart.

This heart was first pieced scraps and then I appliquéd the heart and surrounded it with metallic gold rickrack for some bling. 

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Sew Powerful Purses #39-43 (for 2026)

Happy Valentine's Day! While I am working on more heart flaps for the Sew Powerful purses, I don't have them finished yet, just the one I shared a couple days ago. However, I did finish these 5 purses that I will donate to Sew Powerful Purse Project soon.

Painted background, appliqué flower, and pieced webbing strap using up scraps of webbing.

Decorative stitches on the curved scrappy section and a fabric strap using up some partial straps that I joined together.

Scrappy pieced flap with appliqué flower from that rainbow tank top that I have cut up into a lot of flowers. I made the fabric strap out of the same purse body fabric.

Painted background, appliqué rainbow flower from the tank top and a shiny textured vinyl for the center of the flower.

I made this flower years ago. It is fused with fabric on both sides and I riveted it to the flap. It is 3-D, as nothing is sewn on the flower. 2 flower layers and the circle center with the rivet in the center. I decided to rivet the flower on the scrappy blue purse flap.

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Sew Powerful Purses #10-12 (2025)

Using up a couple of miscellaneous quilt blocks, plus a painted fabric with an appliqué.

I found the quilt block on the left and on the right and made them into purse flaps. The star on the right I had to add some strips to make it the flap size needed. The center flap is another painted texture background with a Hawaiian butterfly flower appliqué in the corner using an upcycled rainbow knit tank top.

Center is an upcycled denim jeans purse body.

Back of purses.

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Sew Powerful Purses #328-336 (2024)

9 more purses donated to Sew Powerful. These purses have various techniques that I used: decorative machine stiches using a circular attachment, painted flaps, appliqué flaps, upcycling, machine decorative stitches (non circular) and lots of embellishments.

These 2 purses were made with a wool (or wool blend?) suiting material. I shared one purse yesterday made with a purse body using this material too. For these purses I wanted to play with the circular attachment for making round decorative stitches. I am getting better using the attachment, but still have a lot to learn. The hardest part is knowing how to end the circle when the stitch design won't make a complete stitch to the very end. Either I stop short and there is a gap of fabric showing, or I stitch until the stitching touches, even though the stitch pattern isn't complete at that end, so it looks a bit off, which I don't care for. Sometimes I am lucky and it completes a perfect circle of stitches, but that has been rare. So embellishments to the rescue! 😂Adding a button or little stitched embroidered flower adds a nice touch, but also hides those wonky joins! 😉 I also just stitched partial circles which looks nice and takes care of that situation too. I found that with some stitches that are going in a circle, the material didn't want to move as easily, so stitches weren't formed perfectly either. I told you there is a lot to learn still. Perhaps some fabrics work better? I did have the material interfaced on the back. Still overall I do love how these flaps turned out and I like the material a lot! Wish I had more of the gray fabric and knew exactly what is was? It washed and dried beautifully, has a great feel to it as well.  

Notecards to the girls in the front pocket.

On the back side I added pockets and I had already stitched a bit more on the piece I had cut for the flap, so I added it as a pocket on the back with the stitching.

5 decorative stitched corduroy flaps, with added rickrack, couched yarn & buttons too.

Cards in the front pockets for each girl.

Back pockets.

 

 Two painted canvas flaps with added appliqué on top. The left purse appliqué is from a rainbow tie dye tank top that I have been cutting appliqué shapes out of and the purse on the right is a batik fabric butterfly.

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Sew Powerful Purses #322-327 (2024)

Six more purses made for Sew Powerful. Lots of different kinds of upcycling in these purses! I really love upcycling as it keeps stuff out of the landfill and it becomes something useful again in a different form.

Years ago when I went to the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (in Sisters, Oregon), I also went to Black Butte Ranch (which is a short drive from Sisters) to see the outdoor quilt show on Friday at Black Butte Ranch. Another quilt group usually puts on their show the day before the big Sisters Quilt Show. This quilt group usually has their members make something to sell each year as their little fundraiser, and the year I went they were selling towels (maybe potholders too, I cannot remember for sure). I was attracted to the blue cotton towel with the butterfly embroidery on it. I do not have an embroidery machine and I thought this was a very pretty embroidery, so I bought the towel. Husband didn't like it for a towel in the kitchen, so I kept it for years, not really knowing what to do with it. Then I found it recently and thought what a great purse it would make! I had enough of the towel to make the entire purse out of (except the strap, which I used webbing). It was meant to be a purse!!! The selvage one on the right has a black denim jeans body.

Towel material and upcycled black denim jeans.

The purse on the left is made with the blue towel material and the purse on the right is upcycled black denim jeans.

These 2 flaps were made from a couple of tank tops that my daughter bought in Maui several years ago when she was there. I found them in her giveaway pile, and immediately thought they would make fun purse flaps! I added some crystals to both the flaps if you look closely. On the flower on the left purse and between the Aloha name on the right purse. Girls love a bit of bling and the crystals sparkle in the sunshine.

Upcycled denim jeans for the purse bodies.

The back for the purses. Each are upcycled denim jeans and I appliquéd the back side of the tank tops designs on the back of the purses.

The purse on the left I made using a tiny canvas bag from the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, that I cut the print from the front of the tiny bag off and pieced around it. That was also the poster image of the quilt show from several years ago. (It is the annual quilt show in Sisters, Oregon).  I sewed 2 ribbons on each side and 2 different Renaissance Ribbons on top and bottom and then some batik scraps too. The flap on the right was painted with textures and added appliqué in the corner was from a tie dyed tank top I have been cutting up for appliqué shapes for the purses. I added some decorative machine stitches, buttons, crystals, hand French knots too.

Left is cotton fabric, the right is a wool or wool blend suiting fabric. The wool or blend (not sure as it was donated to me) is a lovely fabric with a nice feel to it and makes a sturdy purse. I made some others in the wool or blend fabric I will share soon too. I wish I had more of that fabric as it is really nice!

Purse backs. Left is cotton fabric, the right is a wool or wool blend suiting fabric.

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Sew Powerful Purses #311-314 (2024)

4 more purses donated to Sew Powerful. Two have selvage flaps and two are painted with added appliqué.

The 3rd from the left I painted using the cut off end of a head of lettuce to stamp all over the background. Then I added the appliqué flower on top. The far right one I painted using textures and the flower was upcycled from a tie die tank top I had in a rainbow of colors. The turquoise and purple colors are what I got when I cut out the flower, but there are lots of other colors in the tank top too, so each flap I make will use a different part of the tank top.

I got quite a few purses out of the lighter print fabric that was donated to me.

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Sew Powerful Purses #118-122 (2024)

5 more purses finished for Sew Powerful Purse Project. I had a donated fabric that I used for the purse bodies that is a lovely colorful print that looks like it was painted. I wanted to get as many purses as I could using that print, so I made scrappy flaps and included a scrap of the print in each of the 4 scrappy flaps I made (except for one that I painted) and I added appliqué as the focal point of the flaps too. I really love how these flaps and purses turned out!

I added a purple heart appliqué to the center of the flap to give it a nice focal point on this purse and the other four purses I pieced below with added appliqué as well.

Flap is up showing the lining and the front of the purse to see the exterior fabric better. Isn't the exterior fabric beautiful? Each cut piece of the that fabric shows a different part of the print.

The back of the purse and a different section of the print fabric.

The Saguaro cactus is a die cut I have and this is the first time using it. We don't have any Saguaro cactus here in New Mexico where I live, but I have seen lots of these cacti in Arizona, in Phoenix and Tucson area. They are such tall fun cactus and the arms of each cactus can look so different and take on their own personality. I may need to add a little note about this cactus int he notecard that I include in the purse, so the girl who receives this will know what it is, in case she hasn't seen one in a photo before.

Another section of the print reveals a different look than the other purse.

Here is the back of the purse, showing yet another part of the print.

This purse has a heart appliqué in a different color than the first heart appliqué that I showed.

The back of the purse. I wondered if those squiggly lines on the fabric was a flaw? I saw them in a few places and they didn't make any sense in the print, so I wonder if a thread got in the way when the fabric was printed? Perhaps that is why someone donated this fabric? I used it anyhow and placed it on the back of the purse. This was the only purse that I had enough fabric to add the back slip pocket on.

This purse I added a flower appliqué with doubled stacked buttons in the center of the flower. I love that the center button fit perfectly inside the larger button, since that yellow button had the raised part around it.

Front of the purse and a bit more of the lines (it gets covered by the flap)

 and another part of this print.

Back of the purse with another section of the print.

I first painted a texture background on this flap and then added the stenciled woman on top of the fabric after the paint dried. The paint I used for the hair has a metallic iridescence to it, which you cannot see in the photo.

I also painted the lining of the flap and used a different stencil of a woman playing the drum. The front of the purse shows another portion of the fabric print.

The back of the purse showing yet another portion of this beautiful print.

5 girls will get to enjoy the beautiful fabric in these purses. If I had seen that fabric for sale, I might have purchased the entire bolt! I am thankful I got the donation of the fabric and was was able to get 5 purses made from it.

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