I love thrift shopping. A week or so ago, Tena and I went shopping. It’s been so long since I thrift shopped with anyone, and it was so much fun. Here is what I purchased. The beige fabric is a 100% linen valance. I thought it was a full curtain – it was still in the original package – but there still was plenty of great linen fabric to make several purses.
I have yet to decide what I’ll do with the following fabric. It’s all washed and just waiting for me to decide.
Here is a Sew Powerful purse sewn using two of the above fabrics. I loved how it turned out, and how easy it was to sew.
I also made a purse using jeans and some fabric I bought several years ago for Martha’s daughter Jillian’s purse. It was a small zipper bag made with the cat fabric. I thought for sure I had blogged about it, or at least took a picture of it, but couldn’t find it. Anyway, I made a Sew Powerful bag with just the cat fabric, and then made this one with old jeans. Even though I’ve sewn several bags with jeans, they are a challenge sewing over all of that bulk. I use my Elna to do that hard work (broke another needle on my Juki ), but it is still difficult. However, I love how sturdy the jeans are, and the fact I’m upcycling.
And the inside that’s all about cats!
So here are my first four Sew Powerful purses. I am going to make one more before the holiday season kicks off, and then set this pattern aside for awhile.
Making these purses are a great way to get rid of some stash, but also they are a great service project. Here is a link to the website for more info on this wonderful ministry.
While sewing these bags I discovered some great tools that have made the job much easier. You can use them in other sewing, but they work great for making purses. I’ll tell you all about them in my next post.
Thanks for dropping by.