It’s ‘Purse’ onal: weave your own fabric for a one-of-a-kind bag

After swinging into an exhilarating mix of quilting and fibre art with Claire Haillot’s Swing into Fall Quilt last week, I’m moving from art for the wall to something wonderfully creative you can carry with you.

How personal do you like your handmade accessories to be? With Lucy Garvin’s It’s ‘Purse’ onal purse, you don’t simply choose the fabric for your bag. You actually create part of it yourself. Strips of two coordinating fabrics are woven together before the purse is sewn, giving this retro-styled design a fresh, modern personality that can change completely depending on your fabric choices. It’s also a clever way to give leftover fabric strips a starring role.

skill level Advanced

time A satisfying multi-session project with time to enjoy the fabric weaving, purse construction, frame attachment, and handle making

ideal for Confident sewists who enjoy creative sewing, fabric manipulation, useful accessories, and projects that leave plenty of room for personal expression

you will practice fabric weaving, working with fusible interfacing and fusible fleece, zigzag stitching, sewing darts and gussets, lining a purse, attaching a sew-in purse frame, hand stitching, and constructing a removable handle

finished size 4” [10cm] bottom width x 10” [25.5cm] bottom length x 6½” [16.5cm] high, not including the hardware

The Spring 2016 issue of A Needle Pulling Thread celebrated the end of winter with fresh spring projects and plenty of techniques to explore. Along with floral inspiration, the issue included machine embroidery, curved piecing, quilting with denim and quilting cotton, 3D knitting, coloring with thread, and Lucy’s tutorial for making your own purse.

What I especially like about this purse is how much control you have over the final look. Lucy encourages you to play with color, contrast, and the woven effect so the finished fabric can be bold and graphic or beautifully subtle. You can even vary the weaving to give your purse a completely different personality.

And the creativity doesn’t stop with the woven fabric. Lucy takes you through turning that unique textile into a polished, fully lined purse complete with a structured frame and removable handle. There are enough interesting techniques along the way to keep an experienced sewist happily engaged, while the finished bag looks wonderfully professional.
The pattern page describes It’s ‘Purse’ onal as an opportunity to turn a favorite printed fabric into your own purse, with easy-to-follow instructions and step-by-step photos. The project is categorized as advanced creative sewing and weaving.

Get the It’s ‘Purse’ onal pattern here

It’s ‘Purse’-onal

Get ANPTmag Spring 2016 print version here

Spring 2016

Get ANPTmag Spring 2016 digital version here

Spring 2016 Digital Issue

One of the most fun parts would be choosing those two fabrics and seeing what happens once they’re woven together. Would you go for bold contrast and a noticeable checkerboard effect, or two closely related fabrics for something more subtle? Let me know!

What makes this project especially exciting is the fearless mix of techniques. You’re not just quilting; you’re painting, layering, thread painting, appliqueing, building texture, and creating dimensional swing chains! It’s a project for makers who want to stretch, explore, and finish with a piece that feels alive with autumn movement.

Now tell me, how adventurous are you with quilting and fibre art? Would you jump into the full mix of techniques, or start with just one adventurous detail? Let me know!

Join me next week to find out which inspiring ANPTmag quilting project I’ll share with you!