Make This Painted Lady Change Purse

I may or may not have a thing for painted ladies. And I’m not talking about ladies who wear makeup (Though, by all means, rock on, makeup-laden ladies!), I’m talking about ladies who paint fun ladies, like Tuesday Bassen and her fabulous girl plates. I think it started way back in the days of my youth when I enjoyed eating bowl after bowl of apple cinnamon Cherrios from my amazing stackable bowl set (Remember those?!).

Well, regardless of its nostalgic origin, I’m definitely keen on kitschy painted faces, and thought a fun application for my own painted lady would be a cute little change purse. Check out the steps below to make your own!

Supplies:

Small piece of vinyl
Invisible zipper
Paint to match zipper color (This will be the lady’s hair color.)
Thread to match the zipper
Acrylic paints (in colors to paint a face)
Marker
Pencil

Tools:

Straight pins
Fabric scissors
Sewing machine
Paint brushes (Fine and medium tip will do.)
Round object to trace (I used a cappuccino cup.)

Step One: Using a marker, trace the outline of a large mug or small saucer onto the vinyl and cut out each circle.

Step Two: Draw your lady’s face with pencil onto the vinyl, and then fill in with acrylic paint. I chose to outline the features in black paint. You can make your lady’s face as fun, graphic, or kitschy as you like! Just make sure you keep in mind that about 1/4″ around the edge will be hidden in the seam.

Step Three: Shorten the zipper to a size that will wrap around half of the change purse (about half of the circumference of the circles you cut out). Do this by stitching the zipper at the desired length and trimming off the excess. Use a thread that matches the color of your zipper— I only used black so it is clearly visible for teaching purposes.

Step Four: Pin the zipper onto the face of the vinyl as shown in the above image. Then stitch it down to the vinyl using a zipper foot on a sewing machine.

Step Five: With the zipper closed, pin it to the good side of the other circle of vinyl, in the same way you did the front side. Stitch it down, removing the pins as you go along.

Step Six: With the zipper partially open, pin the non-zippered sides of the front and back pieces together. Then, open the zipper completely before stitching along the pins. Begin and end this stitch to slightly overlap the edges of the zipper. Keep your stitches in line with the zipper stitches, making your hem about 1/4″ in from the edge.

Step Seven: Use your scissors or pinking sheers to cut little triangles into the edge of the seam you just made. This will keep the vinyl from puckering when flipped right-side out.

Step Eight: Flip the purse right-side out, and use your finger from the inside of the change purse to push out any puckering around the edges.

Voila! Now I have a fun little conversation starter for when I’m digging out coins to pay for a friend’s cup of coffee. This would be a fun idea for a child’s purse, too! I had a lot of fun making this, because I had a change to both paint, and sew, but it didn’t take too long to finish the project from beginning to end. Perfect for a Saturday afternoon craft, eh?

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