Pillow Cover into Dress-Up Purse -- TUTORIAL

I made two of these cute little girls' dress-up purses out of...


...this pillow cover I found at the dollar store!

(This looks like a lot of steps, but believe me -- it took longer to write this tutorial than it did to make both purses!)

SUPPLIES:
~ pillow cover
~ ribbon, cording, or chain for strap
~ vintage button or other embellishment

STEP ONE: Remove the zipper. This is one case when shoddy construction is your friend -- super long stitches are easy to rip out! I thought about reusing the zipper in my project, but decided against it and added it to my zipper stash.


I toyed with a few ideas as far as style and construction, but settled on this fold-over flap style. Not only is it super easy to construct, but it will be easy for little hands to open and close without worrying about zippers or buttons.


STEP TWO: Turn the pillow cover inside out, then fold it approximately in half. Use an iron to crease the sewing line. No pins, no marking!


STEP THREE: Sew right along the crease, leaving a small opening toward one end. Stop and backstitch, moved the foot down a few inches, backstitch again and continue. Don't clip that connecting thread! When you turn your purse right side out, that thread will prevent you from stretching and distorting the fabric.
(I also re-sewed over the rest of the lines to ensure they wouldn't pop out.)


STEP FOUR: Mirror your stitching line on the other side of the pillow cover. I left an extra wide seam allowance, since this particular fabric frays quite easily.


STEP FIVE: Cut your pieces apart and turn them right side out.

Be sure to poke out those corners. I use my handy-dandy chopstick for this!


STEP SIX: Press your edges to make them nice and sharp.

Press your opening as well.

STEP SEVEN: Fold your purse how you want it to look with the wrong (lining) side out.

Make sure your opening is on the side seam, not on the flap.

STEP EIGHT: Tuck in the ends of your purse handle as shown. (Mine is some kind of braided cording I had on hand.) Stick the ends out the side seams, with the rest inside. Pin in place.

STEP NINE: Sew! You are attaching the handle, sewing the side seams, and closing up your turning hole all at the same time!

I sewed back and forth where the handle was attached for extra security. (I also knotted the ends of my handle before sewing them in to ensure they wouldn't unravel.)

Trim.

STEP TEN: Turn right side out!

STEP ELEVEN: (The fun part!) Choose an embellishment for your purse. I chose to handsew a vintage button to the flap (these are the ones I was trying to decide between!), but a fabric flower would be really cute too!

If your dollar store doesn't carry pillow covers, you could certainly do this same process with a couple pieces of fabric instead. I just really liked the fancy, shiny, girly look of this pillow cover! And who can beat two purses for a BUCK?