3.24.2010

99¢ Easter Purse

Purses are my very favorite thing.
Some girls may be into shoes or makeup,
but I am definitely a bag girl.

I have happily passed this obsession onto my own girls.
Each Easter I am sure to include a new little purse in their baskets.
This year I decided to make them each one myself,
using Made By Rae's Buttercup Bag as my pattern.
(Click here, here, and here to see past purses from this pattern.)

Wanting to work with something different, I picked up two
TJ Maxx 99¢ reusable shopping bags!

I love the pattern;
it seems reminiscent of Lilly Pulitzer
(though decidedly more affordable!)

Working with this sort of fabric was surprisingly easy.
It is thinner than oil cloth, but has a similar texture.
I was even able to re-use the straps from the shopping bag
as the lining of the purse handle.


I had enough bag fabric left over, that I was able to cut out flowers and
layer them to form a flower pin embellishment (scrapbooking brad as the center).

Re-purposing these bags opens up a whole world of possibilities.
I can't wait to find more colors and patterns to work with!


The girls will be so excited when they see what the Easter Bunny brings them!


21 comments:

Vintage Dutch Girl said...

YOWZA that is an AWESOME redo! The flower pin gives it a lovely touch of sass :)

Diana said...

I love this idea! Too bad I don't have any little girls in my house to make them for...

Sheila Irish said...

So cute and creative! I have some re-usable bags from Hannaford that would be so cute to use!

Terri said...

Very cute! I would never have thought of repurposing a shopping bag to make purses - you are so creative!

Hills N Valleys said...

Very nice! I'm sure they will love them.

My Trendy Tykes said...

Adorable!

Kelly O. said...

so neat! did you line them in the end or did you not need to...I'm not familiar with this pattern at all but need to check it out!

Autumn Leah Designs said...

Love it!!!! They turned out so cute=)

Anonymous said...

Lovely. Lovely. Lovely.
:-)

Melissap

Kristin said...

Thanks everyone, and yes, Kelly, I did line it with a solid hot pink cotton.

Crafty Mom said...

Genius!!! love the flower embellishment, too! I'll be keeping an eye out for pretty reusable bags, too!

Jennifer said...

What a GREAT idea! I will definitely be eyeing those shopping bags a little differently now. :) Thanks for sharing!

Christy @ MCH PHOTOGRAPHY said...

What a cool idea! I love them.

Jennifer said...

Oh.my.gosh! My jaw literally dropped at this transformation! There is absolutely no denying it, you ROCK! And I love reusable bags. My husband will probably not appreciate your post since I now have the perfect excuse to go buy more just so I can try it out! Great job! (haha, my word verification is "butch")

Joni said...

Love, love, LOVE it!! Good job! Makes me want to run over to TJ Maxx and get some.....these are just lovely!

Laura said...

WOW! This is AWESOME! You are so creative... I guess I need to make a quick trip to TJMaxx :) Thanks for sharing your awesome ideas :)

vanillafrog said...

Wow! I really wish I had kept sewing after I took Apparel class my senior year in high school!

Sarah said...

genious idea!

ReminisceHeirlooms said...

FABULOUS bag!!

Amy said...

What a clever idea! And such a reasonable price! I love it. I saw those bags but don't want to carry one around that says, "TJ Maxx."

Susy said...

you are amazing! I will resist the temptation to say, "I wish I had your talent!", oops I said it! Lord,help me be content with what talent You gave me..even as I visit Grace Violet! :)