upcycle | Fruit From My Hands

It is 4th of July week and I felt the need for a new purse. I found a pretty snazzy, all-American one but it had a short faux leather strap. I can never find purses with ample straps for my ample body. Then it hit me. I can sew!

As a quilter I have a stash of leftover quilt binding from previous quilts. I dug through that bin and found this red fabric with blue and white stars. Perfect. The existing strap on the purse was narrow and matched the width of the binding perfectly.

Using a seam ripper, remove the existing strap from the hardware, leaving the existing hardware in tact.
Open up the folded quilt binding strip. Mine was 1 7/8″ wide when folded.
Fold the unfinished fabric edges of the strip in to the middle fold and finger press.
Topstitch with a machine along the long edge of both sides of the strip.
Thread the ends of the finished strip through the purse hardware and adjust the new strap to the perfect length.
Tuck the unfinished ends in on themselves and loop around the existing hardware.
Stitch the ends in place using a sewing machine. Stitch back and forth several times for added security.

Voila! New purse with custom strap that always fits.

I am always on the look out for the “perfect little bag” to carry various objects of necessity in my purse. Generally, I find that they are all the wrong shape. I don’t want a large 4in. by 4in. square bag. I want something long, narrow and easy to toss in a small purse. (I am not known for having the patience to pack a suitcase when going anywhere.) I picked up the latest issue of Sew-it… Today magazine on a local newsstand. Being a tech person, I have made the jump to “the cloud”, ebooks and mobile devices so for me to purchase an actual paper publication meant that there had to be something intriguing in it.

Flipping through the pages, I ran across this Pretty Little Pouch. I could not resist it. But I cannot follow instructions completely letter for letter. I must add my own unique spin to everything I make. That is the whole point of sewing, right? The cotton fabric and interfacing used in the article was nice but my thought was “what about some recycled blue jean denim?” Everything in my purse takes a beating and needs to be as sturdy as possible. So here is my version: recycled denim outer fabric which is sturdy enough I didn’t have to add the interfacing along with a kicky lining fabric that makes me happy and some vintage trims from the Grandmother’s stash.

And I love the shape!

Fruit From My Hands

…..give her the fruit of her hands

Tag Archives: upcycle

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Sew-it…Today Magazine Pretty Little Pouch