How to Make Purses Out of Vintage Placemats

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By rburt
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A purse made by recycling a vintage placemat

I love to browse through thrift shops, and never come out of them empty handed. I always enjoy looking through vintage placemats, and using the different patterns for inspiration. You may not be able to find matching ones, but you can use these beauties for a purpose other than decorating your table. The following is an explanation of how to turn a vintage placemat into a purse. If you love to recycle things, and owning unique accessories, then this project is for you.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

A vintage placemat (You can use a new one if you'd like, but I think using recycled materials makes the project even better.)
Purse handles, which can be purchased at any craft store. (You can also use some ribbon, or whatever your creative little heart desires)
A sewing machine, or even just a sewing needle, and thread

Step 1

Take a trip to your local thrift store, and pick out a placemat (or more if you'd like).
Purchase your purse handles, or pick out whatever you decide to use for handles.
Step 2

Put the placemat on a flat surface and fold it in half, with the right sides of the mat together. If you have a placemat that you think would look better as a bag with the seam showing on the outside, fold the placemat with the wrong sides together.
Step 3

Sew up the sides of the folded placemat, from the bottom edge up to the top. When you stitch up the sides, make the stitch about 1/8" from the side (or a measurement close to that). Tie off the thread on each side. Make sure that you tie the thread off on the inside, to make sure that the seam will not come unraveled. Turn the bag right side out.
Step 4

Now you are ready to add the handles. Fold one side of the bag in half, in order to find the center. Once you have done this, center one of the handles at the inside top of one side. If your handles have metal hoops sew all the way around them. If you're using ribbon, sew one side of the ribbon to the bag (make sure that you have centered the ribbon as though it were a handle).
If your placemat has a lining, stitch the handles to the inner layer only. This way your stitching won't show on the outside. If your placemat doesn't have lining, make sure that you use thread that matches the outside of your bag.
Step 5

Add whatever finishing touches you'd like. You could add trim around the top, or appliques to the sides, whatever would make it uniquely yours. Let your creative juices flow!