felted sweater purse by udandi
Inspired by Redux Designs Sweater Purse project I wanted to make a purse from a sweater.
I thought I would use the red sweater body that I had, but since it was really wide and worked better as a pillow I needed to find another sweater. I had put out a call to my coworkers that I was accepting unwanted sweaters and got this pretty orange sweater from my coworker, Dazzles.
The investment in this project was $3 for the handles from Joanns, fusible interfacing and fabric for the liner, which I had in my stash, a spool of thread, my sewing machine and my time – really not much.
The directions with photos on Redux Designs worked very well. In short here is what I did: I sewed a seam across what is now the bottom of the purse (formerly the chest ares of the sweater). To provide sturdiness, I used fusible interfacing on my liner, which is a red gingham but sort-of looks orange. What was the bottom of the sweater is now wrapped and hand-stitched on the handles (last step). If you click my photo, you will see my notes.
Up to the part of hand-stitching, this project did not take very long to cut, assemble and sew. I worked on one handle while hanging out with a friend and then finished another handle just before bedtime.
I should point our my sewing training comes from my mom who showed me how to wind bobbin, thread her machine and read a pattern. From there, I am self-taught with my own machine’s manual, sewing books and a few tutorials from blogs. I am of the idea that anyone can learn to sew or cook, if you are willing to read directions, ask questions and apply yourself!
Let me know if you try this or another project, I love to see what others are working on!
Gladys
January 28, 2009 at 10:00 amOh, that looks great – I love the color!! I’m glad the instructions and photos were helpful. I always worry that what I’m trying to explain won’t come across in the tutorial.
I also loved your comment on teaching yourself different crafts. My grandmother taught me to sew, crochet and embroidery, but she didn’t knit. After several false starts, I finally taught myself a few years ago – and knitted a hooded scarf for my mom’s Christmas gift this year!
Keep up the good work!!
Andi
January 28, 2009 at 10:18 amGladys, I’m a visual learner so directions with photos/sketches are a big help! No one in my family knits and I’d like to learn, even bought myself a kit, but still have not gotten the hang of it. It is on my list to keep trying, but in the meantime, I do other projects! Thanks for stopping by and the words of encouragement, I hope you do the same because I like the idea behind your blog!
Shannanb aka mommy bits
January 28, 2009 at 10:22 pmI am so envious of your skillz! I would love to be able to sew. I can remember in 8th grade making a sweatshirt and a pillow. I loved it!
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Robin
January 29, 2009 at 9:51 amLove, love, love that purse! So cute. Makes me sad I sold my sewing machine at a yard sale for $5.00.
You need your own cable show. Seriously!
hugs!
Robin
Laura
January 30, 2009 at 8:19 pmI need you to teach me. You’ll be Mr. Miagi (I don’t know if that’s spelled right) — and I’ll be the sewing machine kid.
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Andi
January 30, 2009 at 8:23 pmoh Robin, next time you’re nearly giving away something so awesome, call me! We’ll use it for teaching Laura to sew! And Laura, how cool would it be to start our own sewing machine kid videos?! pretty cool, I’m sure of it!
Gayle
January 31, 2009 at 1:57 pmWhat a great post! The purse is very cool! I think it’s great that you are self-taught with a little background training from your mom. I am the same with crocheting. My mom taught me the basics when I was young and that helped me to be able to start up on it again now that I am older and get so much enjoyment out of it!
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