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In this tutorial, you will learn how to make a purse for a child. Here in the UK, we call this a handbag. To us, a purse is the small, usually zipped, pouch you use for coins and notes. As most of our members are from the US, I’ll use American terminology but will add British terms in brackets.
Please don’t be put off by the length of the tutorial and the number of photographs. It is really quite straight forward but I wanted to show each step so that even a relative beginner can make this.
Size of finished item: 9 ½ inches (24 cm) wide by 10 ½ inches (26.5 cm) high including the handle (6 ½ inches (16.5 cm) high not including the handle). All measurements are approximate.
Use a quarter inch (6-7 mm) seam allowance. Be sure to start and finish each section of stitching with reverse or locking stitches.
Variations
You could add a snap, press stud or some other type of closure at the top if you like. You could gather the top on the main outer piece rather than pleat it. You could add lace or a trim like ric rac to the seam where you join the top band. If you want to save time or fabric, you can make the outer in the same way as the lining, with no pleating. Or you could pleat just the front of the purse and leave the back flat. In this case, use the lining pattern piece instead of the outer pattern piece.
