How to Make a Purse From a Sweater

If you have an old sweater that you can’t bear to part with--maybe it doesn't fit anymore, or it has a hole in it that you can't fix--you can recycle that sweater and turn it into a purse. Follow these steps to make a purse from a sweater.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Sweater
• Pins
• Pattern
• Scissors
• Needle and thread

1. Wash the sweater and turn it inside out. Gather the items you need to make the sweater--like pins, fabric scissors and tracing paper.

2. Draw a pattern on a piece of paper so you can see the size of the purse you want. Use tracing paper for the pattern and pin it to the sweater. Make sure you pin through both layers of the sweater.
   
   

3. Cut about an inch around the pattern so you have a seam area. You don’t want to sew right along the edge of the pattern.

4. Use a needle that is thick enough to go through both pieces of fabric and sew around three edges of the purse. Leave the top of the purse open.

5. Turn your purse front side out so the sewing disappears into the purse and the nice side of the material is on the outside. Iron down the seams if the purse does not lay flat.

6. Knit or buy a cord to use as a purse handle. Sew it to the top left and top right of the purse. Make sure you double sew it so that it is strong enough to hold the weight of your full purse.

7. Add decorations like fur or beads to the purse to create a designer effect. Close the purse by sewing in a zipper or snaps.

Tips & Warnings

• Take a look at your other purses to determine the size you want.
• Use a sewing machine if you don’t want to sew by hand.
• Don’t use a stretchy cord or your purse will end up dragging onto the floor.