pinquitos change purse

bean bag zipper pouch

I love how these little purses turned out. They weren’t at all what I was thinking, but I really wanted to show off the flowers and mountains. A square zipper pouch was the best way to do just that.

bean bag zipper pouch

I didn’t want to wash them because I was afraid that the color might fade, but I had to because they were kind of dirty. I was worried that they might unravel, so I sewed a basting stitch around the edges before I put them in the wash. Good thing, too! The edges totally frayed up to the stitches.

The bags were a little delicate and I wanted to make them more substantial so I used some cotton quilt batting to give them their shape. I used the front of the bag for the outside and the back of the bag for the lining. To solve the fraying issue, I enclosed the raw edges in a french seam. There were a few holes from the original stitching that didn’t work themselves out in the wash. They don’t look like they are going to unravel, but I dotted them with some Fray Check just in case. These were super fun to make and I finished them in one evening.

recycle: bean bags purchased at garage sale, leftover batting from stash, one zipper was thrifted, one zipper was reclaimed from a garment

bean bags

I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with these bean bags. Originally, I thought zipper pouches, but if I do the standard long rectangle orientation, the art will be sideways. Does that matter? I think it would be better to have the zipper on the top. Is that weird?

bean bags

I also thought they might look cool as box bags, but, again, the art would be sideways. I’m thinking of designing a box bag that is wider at the base so it will stand up on its own.

recycle: Bags were an impulse buy at “The Mother of All Garage Sales.” The flowers were too cute to pass up! Stay tuned for the “after” pic.