A Purse Organiser
It is always fun to change purses, so having an organiser is quite a practical item to have.
A friend and I were chatting about purse organisers one day, and she mentioned that it was not easy finding an organiser that fits neatly into her particular purse. She then asked if I could make one for her and specified the dimensions for the organiser to have the Length 31 cm (12.2 inches) x Height 16 cm (6.3 inches) x Depth 11 cm (4.3 inches).
I was more than happy to make one for her, and after a few discussions, she chose a combination of yellow felt and denim.
A thicker felt is advisable.
This project is not advisable for beginners and needs a durable sewing machine.
Materials
MAIN - SIDES
32 x 17 cm (13 x 7 inches) Denim x 4
32 x 17 cm (13 x 7 inches) Batting x 2
17 x 12 cm (7 x 5 inches) Denim x 4
17 x 12 cm (7 x 5 inches) Batting x 2
MAIN - BASE
32 x 12 cm (13 x 5 inches) Denim
32 x 12 cm (13 x 5 inches) Batting
32 x 12 cm (13 x 5 inches) Yellow Felt
OUTER POCKET
32 x 17 cm (13 x 7 inches) Denim x 2
32 x 17 cm (13 x 7 inches) Yellow Felt x 2
17 x 12 cm (7 x 5 inches) Denim x 2
17 x 12 cm (7 x 5 inches) Yellow Felt x 2
INNER POCKET
32 x 12 cm ( 13 x 7 inches) Denim x 2
17 x 12 cm (7 x 5 inches) Denim x2
BIAS BINDING
16 X 4 cm (6.3 x 1.5 inches) Denim x 4
1.5 metres (60 inches) Gold
Steps
Use a fabric pencil to mark on 2 larger and 2 smaller side pieces and 1 denim for the base piece to prepare for a diamond quilt.
Once done, pair each unmarked with the marked denim pieces together with the batting sandwiched in between. Please ensure the correct sizes are paired together.
Baste the 3 pieces with a running stitch following the marks. Repeat for all the combined pieces.
Machine sew quilting the fabrics together with a yellow thread to match the yellow felt . Remove the temporary basting stitches. You should now have 5 pieces of quilted denim pieces. At this point there are no wrong sides to any of these pieces.
For the Outer Pockets, pair each felt with the denim according to sizes, wrong sides together. Fold a 1 cm (0.4 inch) seam inwards for the top of the pockets for both fabrics as shown. Pin to secure.
You should now have 4 outer pocket pieces as shown above. Machine sew all around combining the felt and denim pieces together.
For the Inner Pockets, fold in one side on the wrong side of the denim approximately 1/2 cm (0.2 inches) twice as shown. This will be the top of the pocket, Machine sew in place.
Position the wrong sides of the larger pocket pieces to the larger quilted pieces. Align the pockets from the bottom so approximately 2.5 cm (1 inch) of the main quilted pieces are visible from the top. Pin securely in place.
Mark the pocket pieces with a fabric marker 13 cm (5 inches) vertically from the left and right of the quilted pieces, as shown in the photo above.
Machine sew following the marked vertical lines and also around the sides and bottom for both the pocket pieces, as shown above. Do not sew the top part of the pockets.
Place the smaller pockets on the smaller quilted pieces and machine sew all around except for the top as well.
You should now have 4 pieces with inner pockets as shown.
Next attach the Outer Pocket Pieces to the opposite sides of the the quilted denim pieces. Hence, one side will be attached with the inner pockets and the opposite sides will be the outer pockets.
As before, align the pockets from the bottom so approximately 2.5 cm (1 inch) of the quilted pieces are visible from the top.
Machine sew all around attaching the pieces together. Remember not to sew the top of the pockets.
Now for the base, pin the felt and quilt base pieces together. Machine sew all around attaching the pieces together.
You should now have combined all the pockets to the quilt pieces . There should now be 5 pieces to sew together for the organiser as shown above.
With felt sides together, begin by placing the bottom of the longer and larger quilt pieces on either sides of the base quilt piece.
Pin , baste and machine sew the 3 pieces together. This will now be called the “combined” piece.
Once done attach the remaining smaller pieces on either sides of the “combined” piece . Please ensure that the felt sides are facing the felt sides of the “combined” piece.
Pin both pieces on all 3 sides and baste as shown above. This step will hold the new piece up and give shape and structure for the organiser.
Machine sew all around making it permanent.
Turn the organiser inside out to check that the felts are aligned from the joining of the pieces and the organiser looks acceptable externally. Adjust and fix where necessary.
This will be the final outer side for the organiser.
Turn the organiser inside out again, with the inside facing out now. Trim all around the unfinished seams as close to the stitches as possible. Remember NOT to trim the seam at the top edge of the organiser!
Hand stitch the gold bias binding covering the unfinished seams of the 4 sides of the base of the organiser. See the above photo.
Once done repeat the process again to the upper edge of the organiser with the gold bias binding.
Next, sew the denim bias binding to the 4 remaining unfinished vertical seams of the organiser.
Finally, turn the organiser inside out with the felt pockets on the outside. The organiser is now ready to be filled and used!
Time to get organised!
So glad the organiser fitted my friend’s purse and so happy she was pleased with her new home-made purse organiser!
Enjoy making one for yourself too!