Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Free Skirt Purse Pattern w/ Tutorial


While on the 400 Mile Yard sale, I came across a lady selling her scrap fabrics.  BIG pieces of scraps for 50¢ a grocery bag full. 
I sorted the pieces and came up with this stack of almost fat quarters.

They had been cut by a pattern the lady had made as skirts for a 31 skirt purse.  She had been making them and selling and decided to quit. 


 Problem - I couldn't figure out how this pattern came to fit my skirt purse.



So I made my own pattern.


Here is my first prototype.  Made it from a fabric that I wouldn't use unless I gave it to a fire lady.



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 My tutorial for creating this purse skirt.
 Be sure to read on to see the money saving trick I learned from the Yard Sale Lady 
for attaching the skirt to the purse.

Here is my skirt purse pattern link I made 
I hope the link works.  Google has deleted some of my docs.  Sometimes works, sometimes not.
Note the measurements to make sure it printed correctly.

Interface the strips with  interfacing (I use iron on) or self fabric that is cut 1/4" less wide than the strips.  Turn over one long edge on each strip and stitch.

This is a straight cut strip, not cut on the bias, so it won't stretch.  It manages the slight curve OK.

For this purse I did add my name.

I know the pros will choke when they find out I used a simple all purpose thread instead of expensive embroidery thread.  For this simple style, I ran the stitch twice and it worked fine.  Be brave and try something different.  Besides, it wasn't like I was messing of a $5.00/yd fabric.


To stabilized the top and to make a crisper turn, I like to do an understitch.  Turn the seam allowance upward and stitch top to catch the seam allowance.




After turning, top stitch 1/4" from the seam edge.  The top row you see is the understitch just done.

My pieces already came with the corner cut out about 1 1/2" deep, but note on the pattern I don't cut out the corner.  After stitching sides and bottoms, just pull the corner apart like you see in the second picture above, measure down about 1 1/2" from corner (or check your original skirt), and proceed to stitch across, then cut off excess corner leaving a 1/4" seam.  Personally, I don't cut it off, because I think it leaves a stronger support for the corners.

Now the money saving trick I learned from the Yard Sale Lady.
For the metal hooks used to connect the skirt to the purse she used:
Yep!  Safety pins.  A safety pin about 1 inch long works just as good as the metal hooks and much faster to attach.  No hand sewing!

Now go make a bunch of skirts for your 31 Gift Purse.  If you're like me, you won't be able to stop!
Beginning to wonder if I can add skirts to my other purses?


As a former school teacher, this had to be one of the first I made from my 400 Mile Yard Sale Stash.

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I've had a few email inquires asking if I have a pattern for the newest skirt purse.  
Sorry, at this time I do not.
You can now find a pattern for the larger, newer purse 
@
this post.click here

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If you have any questions, please leave a comment and check back with the comments here for your answer.  
Thank-you, JOY

You'll find this post at several Linky Parties. Please check them out for some great ideas.
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Directions revised August 1, 2017 HERE.
 
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Thanks to 
GIMP for cropping & other digital effects
PicMonkey creating collages used on this page
 Photoscape for downsizing & watermarking photo

37 comments:

  1. now that is so cool. i need to quiet my brain & try to make myself one. i'll keep this post on hand for sure. thanks. (:

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  2. Thanks for sharing the detailed pattern and tutorial, Joy. It's a great way to upcycle pre-loved bags!!! Love the paisley fabric.

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  3. Hi Joy!
    What a great find!!! And, what a wonderful tut. I bet you could donate that Fireman themed purse to a Fireman Auxiliary for a little raffle so they could make $$. Usually the Ladies Fireman Auxiliary (wives of fireman) raise money for different charities throughout the year.

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  4. Wow, what a fantastic transformation!
    JoAnn

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  5. I love that you figured out how to make your own skirts for this purse.

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  6. The Alphabet skirt is super cute.

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  7. Oh man, that is so cool. and like patrice, i love that joy stitching also! Thank you for sharing your wonderful ideas at our linky party at http://www.finecraftguild.com/ & we love seeing you back there this week with another project!!

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  8. I love this purse design. Different but cute and cool. You did a great job making it. Oh, and what a great deal you got at the yard sale.

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  9. Great! My 31 purse skirt is getting dingy, and I was wanting to use fabric from my own collection for a new one. But I didn't know how to do it, and now I do thanks to this great pattern/tutorial! Thanks for sharing!

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  10. Love the 3 purse skit, and love the design. You really did a great job, I love making simple purses, and right now am using my "fall" purse. Thanks for sharing your inspiration with Sunday’s Best – you helped make the party a success!

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  11. I love the purses and wonder where you get the leather trim. They finish them off very professionally.

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    Replies
    1. Only the skirt for the purse is made here. The base of the purse which has the leather trim came from "31 Gifts" which is a home party company.

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    2. I am a Thirty-One Consultant, and love this idea for ladies that want something unique for their Skirt Purses. AnnaBell, you can email me at lisaloves31@att.net, if you are looking for a Skirt Purse. Thank You, Joy, for this great tip, and I LOVE the safety pin idea. This tip will be great, if anyone ever loses an attachment for their purse. Blessings to you!

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  12. Joy, I love the safety pin money saving tip! I wish your page would have come up yesterday when I was Googleing before I spent $28 (inc shipping)on a gross of the "flat skirt eyes" that I purchased from a New York sewing supply store. I'm in need of some new seasonal skirts myself as I only have the one bright pink personalized embroidered one that came with my bag and found only one purse skirt pattern online. I tweaked the sewing part a bit but the pattern worked out great. I made two purse skirts yesterday but I'm waiting to finish them up when I get the "eyes". And I'll probably make use of my embroidery machine, too! (It's been collecting dust lately :( I'm so excited now!
    Thanks for sharing! Your skirts look awesome!
    Annie
    Dallas, GA

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    Replies
    1. So sorry Annie that you had to spend so much on the hooks. Glad you were able to use the pattern. Most of us tweak to suit ourselves anyway. I hope you'll be able to share some pictures of some new projects?

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  13. Such a great pattern and love how these turned out. Loved and pinned. Thank you for sharing this at MightyCrafty Mondays...

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  14. That is such an innovative idea, wow so creative!
    Thank you so much for sharing this over on Tutorial Thursdays, it is much appreciated.
    x
    Natalie
    www.marigoldsloft.blogspot.com

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  15. Why are they called skirt purses? Do you have to have an old leather top part for the purse and is that what you pin the bottom to?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Ann T, the 5th picture from the top labeled 31 Skirt Purse is the base purse you purchase from 31 Gifts. The skirts are made to slip over this base. The company also sells skirts for the purses, but not in a large variety. Therefore, I felt the need for the pattern so I could make them out of anything i.e. a school Tshirt.

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  16. Hi Joy! Thanks for the great tutorial! I just bought a 31 skirt purse specifically because I knew I could sew my own skirts. Little did I know that you were going to make that really easy for me! One question: what is the length and width that I should make the top strips? Karen

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    Replies
    1. Karen, You are welcome! The measurement for the strip is written on the downloadable pattern.

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  17. Thanks so much this is great! My mom is going to love this for a Christmas gift!

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    Replies
    1. This is becoming a popular gift for me as well. Also, have had a friend that wants me to make some for her sister for Christmas. Once you make the first 2, you will enJOY the fact you can sew them so fast.

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  18. Im getting one of these purses and yours is by far the best tutorial ever! Do you think I could make these reversible and use button holes to attach them instead of safety pins? I can already see im going to get into trouble making the skirts and maybe hubby wont notice if they are a two in one type of a deal!

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    Replies
    1. Michelle, I think you have a couple of great ideas here. I have seriously thought about making them reversible because very little of the seam can be seen. Buttonholes just might work, because the band does a good job not letting them slip off.

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  19. Do you have a fire skirt cover for sale? My best friend's husband just got volunteer fireman of the year...and I would love to get that for her. Or tell me where I can get the material at.

    Thanks!

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  20. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I have been looking for this pattern. I sew some of my own clothes and wanted to be able to make skirts to match my clothes...AGAIN...Thank you!!!!!!

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    Replies
    1. You are most welcome. I would love to see some pictures of your new purse skirts and would enJOY posting them on this blog. You'll find my email address in my profile if you want to send me pics.

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  21. I have an idea for you. (The tan material in the second photo) It would make a great "Retro" skirt purse with the pockets on the outside. Perfect for your cell phone. Would be a good way to recycle material that is meaningful as well.

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    Replies
    1. You have a great eye Kim. I did make a purse out of that tan faux leather pr of slacks which was the purpose of the purchase.

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  22. Thank you so much. I was just getting ready to try to make my own pattern from a suite skirt and decided to Google it to see if anyone had a pattern available. Looking forward to trying this.

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  23. Congratulations! This post is featured as Pin of the Week over at Diana Rambles dot com. Come take a look at what I liked about it. I'm sharing this via Pinterest, Twitter, Google+, and Facebook! There is a Pin of the Week grab button on the sidebar.

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  24. Oh you just saved me a fortune in purse skirts!! Thank you so much!

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  25. Do you have the skirt pattern for the new 31 suite purse??

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    Replies
    1. Nanaty, Please find the link for the larger skirt purse at this bottom of this post. Thank-you for asking. Hope you enJOY it!

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