Rugs to Riches: Cute Purse made from a Rug!

I made a great craft with my sister Tuesday... but it is a present, so I can't post it quite yet. 
So instead check out this cute purse I made last night!

I bought a few of these rugs from the dollar store over a year ago with the intentions of making purses for me and my girlfriends.  Well I just now made one.  I guess I needed motivation and wanting to write another article for the blog gave me the excuse I needed.

So check out your local dollar store for these rugs (I just saw them there the other day so I know they still have them).  Here are the supplies you will need:

 

• one rug
• one mini-rug purse (I found them at the dollar store, too) or another rug to cut up
• fabric to line your pocket and make your straps
• a reusable grocery bag to cut up
• sewing machine, iron, thread, scissors, strip of yarn, yardstick, measuring tape

Now time for the directions!  First thing we will make is the pocket (I find it easier to put it on before I sew the bag all together).  So take the small purse and rip open the seams on the sides and take off the straps. If you can't find this mini purse just cut out a square from an extra rug.
Now cut out a piece of fabric the same width as your pocket and about an inch or so taller. Fold over the top piece one time about 1/2 inch.  Fold it over another 1/2 inch overlapping the pocket material now. Sew that in place with a straight stitch at the bottom and a zig-zag stitch in the middle.  This keeps the rug material from coming apart later. It should look like this:

 

 Next sew a straight stitch down either side to hold the fabric to the rug material. & then flip it over and sew it onto the front of the rug about 2 inches from the top and centered width-wise. 

 

    

Next up are the straps.  Again I find it easier to put them on before sewing the sides of the purse together. So take the plastic rectangle out of the bottom of your grocery bag (we'll use it later) and cut the sides off the bag.

Then cut two long strips (from one handle end to the other) about 1" wide.  If you like wider straps feel free to make them cut this wider.  If you don't want to cut up a grocery bag you can use any thick kind of material to make your purse straps stronger.  And if you don't want to make straps they sell strap/belt material at the fabric store.  That would make this project super simple!  Anyways, back to making straps.  Next you will need to cut long strips of your other fabric the same length as your liner material and 3 inches wide (or more for wider straps). 

Then fold fabric in half long wise (right sides together if you have a pattern on it) and sew a straight stitch about 1/4 inch from raw edges the entire length. Then you will have to turn it right side out.  Some people like to sew a thread in one end before sewing the length so they can just pull the thread to turn it out.  I pinned it in, same difference, but make sure the yarn is longer than the strap!

After you have turned both straps right side out, iron the seam flat.  Then take the grocery bag strips and pin a small piece of yarn to one end and tape that onto the end of your yard stick.  Use this to thread your strip of grocery bag fabric through the strap fabric.

 

Now fold over the end of the lined straps twice, one inch each time (I did a little more because my straps were too long and instead of cutting it I just used it). Then sew the folded section onto the inside of your rug in an X pattern.  My straps were 29 inches long and I sewed them about 6-8 inches apart.

  

 Finally it is time to sew up the sides up the purse! Fold your rug (soon to be purse) outsides together.  Pin sides together and sew up with a zig-zag stitch. 

Now you can stop there and turn it right side out if you want.  However I made with a flat bottom and more of a box design by sewing the corners flat.  This part is hard to explain so look at the pictures below first:

You are going to take the sides of the purse (still inside out) and grab the bottom corner.  Decide how wide you want the sides and bottom of your purse to be and sew that much across.  For me, by sewing about 3 1/4 inches in it made the length 6 inches.  Again this is hard to explain, so if the pictures don't make sense look at one of your other purses you have bought and see if it make more sense to you.

Once you have those two corners sewn across you are almost done!  Take the plastic bottom that came in the reusable grocery bag and cut it to fit the bottom of your purse.  Turn your purse right side out and put it in the bottom.  You can put it over the corner flaps or use them to hold the plastic down, whatever works for you.

Now you are all done!

Fill up your masterpiece and show it off!