How to make a purse out of a kitchen rug

I am a huge fan of IKEA and have bought several of their cute striped kitchen rugs here. I love the print and thought how simple it would be to sew one into a bag. These rugs cost a few dollars and the whole project costs less than ten! You will need a sewing machine, but the project is manageable for beginning sewers.

Here is what you will need…

• A kitchen rug (I got mine from Ikea and there are some great options at Target
• I yard of 1 1/2 inch wide of cotton belting or webbing for the strap of the bag. When you are ready to sew it – I measured it across my shoulder to see how long I wanted it, so this is not an exact measurement 
• Scissors
• Sewing machine
• All purpose sewing thread

Here is how you will sew this useful bag…

• Begin by taking only one side of the rug and unthreading the fringe.

• Trim off the fringe.

• Fold the newly cut side up 13 inches – the fringed side will remain longer. You can pin if preferred to hold in place.
• Back stitch and sew down a straight seam and back stitch again to the fold on each side so that you enclose the sides of your bag. Turn your bag inside out.

• Now on the top flap of your bag, fold in the side excess and hem it with the same simple stitch as done above

• Take your measured webbing and place it on the onside of one side of the bag (you can pin it in place if preferred). Stitch a square around the base (make sure to back stitch when you start and finish each seam)

• Stitch the other side of your webbing the same way.

• With your bag inside out form and flatten a triangle with each corner by pressing in and out. This part reminds me a bit of folding Origami.

• Flip it over with the seams flat and showing. Sew a straight line across – about 3 inches in from the point (again, make sure to back stitch from beginning to end).
• That is it! Turn your bag outside in and enjoy!

 

 

 

Hope you let me know if you try this out and how it goes! I am not formally trained in sewing and much of it is self taught… That being said please feel free to ask any clarifying questions and I will do my best to answer them. Have a wonderful week all ~

*Chloe from Boxwood Ave has some great bag tutorials that are always inspiring me – like these two here and here!