Handmade Denim Purses, How-to Wing It

My sewing machine and a huge pile of scrap fabrics have both been sitting at the side of my room, taunting me.  I’m pretty sure I’ve been hearing such things as, “When are you gonna stop being a scaredy-cat and sew something?”…and clucking noises, as if I’m a chicken…Seriously?  My piles of art fodder are taunting me now??

Really, though, it was a bit of fear holding me back.  I kept thinking that I couldn’t do it, that I didn’t really know how to sew or how to just make something out of an image in my head.  I learned the basics of sewing many many years ago, but I’ve never really sewn anything without a pattern or some kind of instructions to follow.  I’ve never just made up my own pattern to follow.

Finally, I just decided to jump in, and I’m quite thrilled with what I learned:

1. I can figure out how to do new things on the sewing machine.
2. I can create my own pattern.
3. I can use old blue jeans to make cute purses!
4. The straps needed to be quite a bit longer than just measuring where they’re going to fall on the actual human form.
5. Sew the embellishments onto the pieces of denim before sewing the pieces together.  It’s much more difficult after the fact.
6. And lastly, little purses take a really long time to make (at least, when you don’t know what you’re doing yet, lol).

I drew out the pattern pieces on paper, measuring the pieces to the size that I wanted the little purses to be in the end, and then added a quarter inch all around for seams.  I measured the straps to the length that would fit around the girls’ necks so that the purse would hang like a satchel.  That was the one biggie I learned after the first purse…add several inches to what I think should be the length, as much of the length was taken up when I sewed the strap around the actual purse front and back.  By the time I put the second purse together, I was way faster and it all went much better.  You live and learn, right??

And the girls totally freaking love the little purses that I made for them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prompt: What can you make with denim cut from old jeans??