Home
About Sewing!
Sewing Tools
Choosing Fabric
Sewing Seams
Measures & Fitting
Easy Sewing Projects
Appliques
Decorative Stitches
Sewing with Trims
Hot Fix It!
The Sewing Room
Sewing Machines
Feet & Needles
Machine Embroidery
Embroidery Blanks
Machine Quilting
Quilting Hoops
Sew Healthy!
Sewing News
Sewing Events
Art Sew Fine
Gift Shop
Contests & Fun Stuff
Links Page
Sewing Books
My Sewing Blog
What's Cooking?
Contact Us
Privacy/Policies
Custom Services
About Karren
What About You?

[?] Subscribe To This Site

XML RSS
Add to Google
Add to My Yahoo!
Add to My MSN
Subscribe with Bloglines
 

Tapestry Placemat Purses.
Simple to Elegant

I know that most everyone knows how to make a placemat purse. Buy a placemat, sew up the sides, add handles and "tadaaa"... you have a new custom sewn purse which didn't cost you an arm and other body parts.

However, if you are one of the few that have not attempted to sew a purse using a placemat, I would like to introduce you to one of my favorite kind. The tapestry inspired placemat purse.

Just about every season, I see new and exciting placemats which I have no desire to put on my dining room table. I do, however, start picturing that placemat as a purse. Many of these table accents are tapestry styles and not necessarily designed with your great-grandmother in mind. Call me old fashioned (just don't call me old), but I LIKE them... well, most of them.


Why You Should Sew a Placemat Purse

Ok, here's why you should sew a placemat purse at least once in your life.

    Placemats quite often are made from pretty good materials (depending on where you shop)and they come in a wonderful variety of colors, patterns and shapes.
    They are already cut out which saves you pinning, measuring and... cutting.
    They are layered, which means YOU don't have to go and buy fabric to line them (the underside becomes the lining) when you sew them up.
    They often have a stiff interfacing already sewn to the back fabric which means... your new placemat purse will actually stand up on its own! No additional interfacing required.
    They are so easy to embellish! Get creative with buttons, ribbons, fringe, beads, embroidery. The placemat is your canvas and you are the artist. Be bold, be demure. It's all up to you!


How to Turn a Tapestry Placemat
(or Other Placemat) into a Purse

Note: this kind of placemat will have thick seams which can break your sewing machine needle if you try and sew through all the layers. I recommend taking the whole placemat apart and separating the front fabric from the back. Do not remove the interfacing from the back fabric. (Note: if the seams are not thick, you may not have to take it apart. Sew your side seams, add your handles and GO! There won't be a separate lining.) However, I still recommend taking this kind of placemat apart and sewing it back together as shown below to prevent any damage to your sewing machine and needle breakage.



Take the tapestry side and fold it in half (right sides together). Finger press the old seams outward but leave the top seam folded down. Pin if necessary and sew the sides along the old crease line or at whatever width you desire.

After you have sewn the side seams, decide how wide you want your placemat purse. With the seam facing you and centered, grab the fabric sides and make a "tab". Measure across the tab the width you want, mark it, and sew. See the photos below.



Here's what it will look like at this point.



When you turn the fabric inside out... "tadaa"... you have a nice edge to your soon to be new custom made tapestry placemat purse.



For the lining, take the other piece of fabric with its attached interfacing and do the same steps that we just did above with the outside (main) fabric. Once it's sewn, you can put it inside your purse... just don't attach it yet with anything except pins. We're not ready to sew the lining to the purse.



More creative fun... deciding what kind of handles you want on your new purse. I took grosgrain ribbon and pinned several different looks using ribbon only and also considered ribbon with a store purchased purse handle.

You can sew your handles to the inside, the outside, or sandwich the ends in between the purse fabric and the lining fabric. Again... have fun, be creative. As you can see from the photos below, at this point I have not yet sewn anything together (handles or lining). I'm still checking my options.





Once you determine what handles you want to use and where you want to put them, you can move onto the next step.

Insert your lining and sew it to your purse along the top edge. Yep, no turning anything inside out. Just drop that lining right down inside your purse.

NOTE: If your purse handles are to be inserted between the lining and the outside fabric, you can sew them in at the same time you attach the lining.



Here's my final version for this particular tapestry placemat purse.



Embellishments and Closures

I didn't add much as far as embellishments to this particular purse, but if YOU want to add pizazz to your purse just remember that it's a lot easier to embellish the outside before you sew the side seams together at the start.

An embroidered monogram or name is always classy on placemat purses. Large buttons, beading, even zippers, randomly placed (or specifically placed) add eye appeal as well to custom made purses.

Hand sewing embellishments to the purse after it is sewn is also always an option if you later decide it just needs "something".

Closures can be as simple as a strip of velcro at the top inner edges, a button, a magnetic snap, a latch hook, ribbon ties, or nothing at all.

Have fun and... get creative!


footer for tapestry placemat purse page