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 #24-29 for 2026

6 more purses to donate to Sew Powerful Purse Project. More scrappy pieced purse flaps with added flower appliqué. Plus one painted purse flap background and a painted flap lining with added Zentangle on another purse!

The flower appliqué on four of the purse flaps are from that rainbow tank top that I upcycled into various flower appliqués. 2 purses have batik fabric flower appliqué.

I love how the orange part of the tank top flower here really pops on the green scrappy flap.

The background is painted texture. Batik flower here.

I made the strap on this purse using 2 fabrics. The flower is pretty with the blue, green and yellow colors from the rainbow tank top.

I like using extra large buttons as flower centers, and it's even more fun to stack a smaller button on top and stitch a little flower in the center.

I had to share this flap lining. I had experimented with painted texture on fabric years ago and adding some Zentangle on top. I LOVE Echinacea cone flowers and I did this one in Zentangle. It was large and took up the whole flap. I chose to use it as a lining so when it is opened the flap can be fully seen like this. If I have used it for the exterior of the flap, the top of the flower would have folded to the back side of the purse and the entire cone part would have been cut off from view. So it made a better lining and a fun surprise for the girl who receives this purse.

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Sew Powerful Purses #22-23 for 2026

2 scrappy flaps with purple denim purse bodies for Sew Powerful Purse Project donation.

The center purple part of the flap was a square I had pieced a very long, time ago. I made it thinking I would make a nametag pin or just a pin to wear on a coat, but I didn't wear it after all, so I ripped the backing fabric off and pressed it and as you can see I set it on point and sewed more scraps around it to create the purse flap. I am amazed at all the little things I have started over the years that work so well for the purse flaps. The fabrics are batiks, my favorite kind of fabric to use.

Batik fabric scraps purse flap.

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Sew Powerful Purses #17-21 for 2026

5 patchwork purse flaps with purple denim purse bodies to donate to Sew Powerful Purse Project. The purse flaps were all made with 2-inch squares fused to a gridded interfacing and then sewn to make perfect patchwork flaps. These were fun to make. A great scrap buster too.

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Danielle Patchwork Cross Body Bag

I made the Danielle Mini Bag not long ago and wanted to try making the medium size Danielle (from Geta Grama), but decided to make it a cross body bag instead of a tote style. I also had some patchwork I had quilted when I was making another bag last year, but I made a goof and couldn't use it, so had to start that one all over again!😛I wanted to try and save the patchwork that was already quilted, so I made this bag. It turned out nice, but I would have aligned things better if I was starting the patchwork from scratch. At least I was able to rescue and use what I already had.

I like the look of the tote bag I think a bit better than making it a cross body style. Still it works fine. I made the back the same as the front with the same slip pocket as the front has.

Side view of the cross body strap riveted to the side.

Front slip pocket (and same on back).

Divided inside slip pocket, with a pen pocket and 2 sections of larger pockets

Magnetic snap closure and zipper pocket with vinyl overlay.

Peeking inside at both pockets. I love that lining fabric!

Bottom of bag. Normally the bottom is not a separate piece. I think it works better to follow the pattern and not add a separate bottom!

I want to make another of Geta's bags next. I bought her bag bundle a few years ago, so it's high time I make a bag or 2 or more. Next bag will have a gusset, which I prefer!

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Sew Powerful Purses #17-21 for 2025

5 more purses finished. Scrappy flaps and all the same plaid purse bodies. One is a raw edge denim jeans scraps flap with decorative stitches.

5 purses to donate.

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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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That Patchwork Tote from Around the Bobbin

That Patchwork Tote was a fun one to test for Around the Bobbin, because it was both patchwork and a bag, which are my 2 favorite things to make! Plus, you can use up your larger scrap pieces as well.

That Patchwork Tote is a great pattern for a quilter that is a new bag maker or a seasoned bag maker, but new to patchwork and quilting, because it is an easy to make tote and you can't go wrong with Lisa's great instructions! Rated for a confident beginner.

There are 2 versions of this tote you can choose to create. Version A has the patchwork pieces sewn more symmetrical with the fabrics even on each side and the seams running evenly down the center of the bag or Version B (the one I made) with the patchwork asymmetrical and the seams are offset. Being an asymmetrical kind of gal myself, this one was the one I had to make!😉😆

The pattern is on sale for just a few days only, so hurry. The coupon code is PATCHWORK for 25% off all day Friday through Sunday (4/26 - 4/28/24 midnight CST).

The tote measures 12" H x 11" W x 3 1/2" D.

Tote closes with a magnetic snap. Two divided slip pockets inside. If you are wondering what those spots of blue are in the lining, well I dyed this fabric pink and some of the dye must not have thoroughly dissolved and so it left spots of blue.🙄I don't mind it at all and it's in the lining, so it isn't a big deal to me.

I divided this slip pocket so I had a pen pocket and since the rest of the pocket would be too small to divide again, I added a plastic Kam snap to keep the pocket from flopping and to keep larger items inside. I also quilted the bottom base of the lining to hold the firm interfacing in place.

This slip pocket is divided in half to create 2 pockets.

Both pockets inside.

I quilted this bag in a grid using a Serpentine stitch.

Side view.

This was a fun tote to make and I love the patchwork look! For you people with embroidery machines, it would be fun to add some embroidery to some of the patchwork spaces, wouldn't it?

Oh, and be sure to check out the other tester's versions here. There are lots of various fabrics used and both versions of the tote sewn too.

Happy Patchwork Tote Sewing!

Note: I am selling this Patchwork Tote in my PayHip Shop too.  It would make an excellent Mother's Day gift 😉. Grab it now if you need a gift for any occasion. Thanks for looking!

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Sew Powerful Purse #181 (2023)

I made this purse several months ago, but apparently it got lost when posting, so here it is now.

A panel that I added strips around to make flap larger.

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