Sew Powerful Purses #460-464 for 2025

5 more purses to donate to Sew Powerful Purse Project are done.

I added an appliqué bee to this scrappy pieced flap using bee & honey fabrics.

Front of purse and flap lining.

I used some scraps of denim fabrics that upcycled from some denim jeans to create the flap, and then added the flower appliqué. The fun decorative stitches were machine stitched with variegates thread.

Front of purse material was a fabric that my mom gave me more than a decade ago. I made a couple of crossbody bags and a travel bag using this material and now I am using it up making these purses. It is a beautiful large floral print in my favorite colors.

Another scrappy flap with a flower. I pieced together webbing scraps to make the strap long enough. Ribbon was sewn over the joined webbing.

Appliqué flower on another scrappy flap.

This is another scrappy flap with appliqué flower. The flowers on these last 3 purse flaps were made from an old tie dyed rainbow tank top that I rarely wore, so I cut a lot of flowers out of that knit tank top to use as appliqué flowers for these purses.

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Sew Powerful Purses #458-459 for 2025

Here are a couple purses with scrappy flaps and an added appliqué flower.

I like using large buttons when I have them for the center of the flower.

The lining of the flap is vinyl. This exterior fabric I have had for maybe 2 decades? It was about time to use it!

This exterior fabric was given to me by my mom at least 15 years ago. There was a lot of yardage and back then I made 2 cross body bags and a large travel bag with it and I still had plenty of the fabric left. I decided to make a few purses using this fabric print like this one. More purses using this fabric will be shared soon. I love the bold floral print and the colors too. 

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Sew Powerful Purses #441-443 for 2025

These are the last 3 purses with brown and blue fabrics. I am glad to have used those fabric at last. Donating these to Sew Powerful Purse Project.

I got some sunflower buttons recently, so I used one for the flower center here.

I had this lining fabric a long time too.

That pop of yellow-orange thread really sets off this flower nicely.

Large buttons work well for the center of the smaller appliqué flowers.

Another fabric I used for the flap lining that I have had for years.

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Sew Powerful Purses #434-440 for 2025

Seven more purses finished. All scrappy flaps with flower appliqué on the flaps. All the flowers and circles I cut from my die cuts. Some have fabric straps and the rest have webbing straps. All will be donated to Sew Powerful Purse Project.

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Sew Powerful Purses #404-409 (for 2025)

These 6 were all completed during the September Sew-a-thon for Sew Powerful Purse Project.

I was playing around making wonky stars and came up with these. Didn't want to make an entire quilt of them, so I set them aside in a box where I test pieced blocks out. I was going through those pieced blocks and found these and decided they would make great looking purse flaps and so they did! 😁

The burgundy and metallic gold stripe fabric was a fabric I have had for decades!!! Time to use this fabric and I made a few purses using it up at last.

2 scrappy pieced pink flaps in batik fabrics.

The pretty pink fabric for the bodies that I have used in a few other purses.

One scrappy batik fabric flap and another scrappy pink flap.

One purse in each of the fabrics I used above.

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Sew Powerful Purses #402-403 (for 2025)

2 more purses made during the Sew-a-thon for Sew Powerful Purse Project. 

I had this brown/black print for years, so decided to make several purses using it.

I sent these 3 purse flaps to a woman I know on the Sew Powerful Facebook group. She went to the retreat they had and said they exchanged flaps they made and said she wished she could have won a flap from me. So I offered to send her a flap. I sent her 3 flaps as the cost of postage was the same for just sending one and didn't increase if I sent her 3. Funny thing is she lives in the city I used to live in many years ago. If I hadn't moved, we could have met and ended up being sewing buddies. She quickly turned these into purses.

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Sew Powerful Purse #359 (for 2025)

Today is the last day for the fundraiser & Sew-a-thon. Please go HERE to make a donation in my honor by September 30th until midnight Pacific time.

Thank you for your support, it means a lot to the sweet girls who receive these purses with the hygiene items inside. A HUGE thank you to all who have donated in my honor this month. I appreciate it so much, but more importantly the girls in Zambia who will benefit from my/our effort are the real winners here. Hugs to all.

I cut 4 more kits yesterday and finished sewing them, so I have now doubled my goal of making 80 purses this month to completing 160 purses in September!!! Pat on my own back. Whew, I amazed even myself sewing so many purses.

I batch sewed them assembly line style. I started with 3 large sacks full of purse kits that I had cut previously in August (which is allowed). Then I would sew the flap to the flap lining and the pocket to the pocket lining and only sew these one after the other on all 3 bags of kits. Then it was time to press and turn right side out. Next, all of those got topstitched. Now I was ready to start assembling the rest of the pieces into the purses and that went much quicker as no stopping to press, turn and topstitch. So for a few days in September I didn't have any purses finished to report, but I was sewing a lot! Once I got to the assembly stage I would complete several purses per day, as many as 17 purses one day! I completed all I had made kits for and was 4 purses shy of doubling my goal, so I cut out 4 more kits and sewed them all yesterday to bring my total to 160 purses. Sewing assembly line goes faster as you repeat the same step over and over. That's how I work best and if you are a patchwork piecer/quilter that is how most quilt makers sew too. I could be sewing more purses today, the last day, but I think I completed enough and need a break 😂.

I used scraps from the body fabric, along with other scraps I had to make the flap.

I got quite a few purses out of this African mask fabric. I bought this fabric years ago on sale for about $1 or $2 a yard (been so long can't remember exactly), and I bought the rest of the bolt. I loved the colors in the fabric and I made a few things using it. Thought it was time to use it up and making these purses was the perfect project for using up the fabric. I have many more to share similar to this one, which I shall share later.

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Sew Powerful Purses #322-326 (for 2025)

Another 5 purses sewn. All kinds of happy scrappiness.

A long time ago I experimented with making tiny pieced Friendship Stars. Sewing this tiny is harder than sewing larger quilt blocks. I had no idea what to do with them back then. I find things I put away from time to time and came across the stars and knew they needed to be on purse flaps, of course! They sure look good on purse flaps and I hope the 2 girls who receive these purses will love them. The purse bodies are upcycled denim jeans.

All scrappy flaps here.

The fronts of the 3 purses.

And the backs of the purses are also scrappy! I just didn't have enough left of any of the fabrics to create the back sides, so I had to piece together scraps of whatever I thought would work. I kind of like having a scrappy back as well.

Won't you please consider a donation to fill these purses and more with the monthly hygiene items the girls in Zambia need to help them to stay in school all year? It takes $10 to fill one purse with these items. You can donate anonymously if you want to as well.

Please go HERE to make a donation in my honor by September 30th until midnight Pacific time.

Thank you for your support, it means a lot to the sweet girls who receive these purses with the hygiene items inside.

Sharing this post would really help too! If I don't ask for donations then Sew Powerful won't receive any donations to help the girls, so I just have to ask.

Hugs!!!

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