Akram's Ideas

Disney Purse

My little sister’s, @TheChicGirl, birthday is coming up and she turns 21. So, for her birthday I decided to do something special.

She’s always been a big fan of Mickey and Minnie Mouse. She has lots of stuff with them on it, she didn’t have a purse. Since I’ve become an expert at making purses I thought I’d make her one.

The idea of making a Mickey and Minnie purse, came to me after reading some t-shirt recycle tutorials on Pinterest. One popular thing to do with an old t-shirt was to turn them into purses. It just so happens that I had a rather large Mickey and Minnie tee, that I had stained on the lower side, and thought I could use that to make Chic Girl’s present.

Here I've cut out the print from the T-shirt
Here I’ve cut out the print from the T-shirt

Unlike many of the tutorials online that basically sewed up to make a quick bag, I would instead take the shirt apart and use one of my purse patterns to cut just as it was fabric. Of course there wasn’t quite enough fabric in the shirt and the pattern required contrast fabric anyways, so I choose a lovely pink fabric I got at an antique store for about a dollar a yard. This was prefect since the tee was blue and m sister’s favorite color was pink.

I used the Simplicity pattern 1905 version B. I did have to make some adjustment since I wanted the front pocket to be made of the portion of the tee that had the image of Mickey and Minnie. This image was slightly larger so to accommodate I simple subtracted a little from the side pieces of the purse, so that the pocket piece was larger. I also felt no need for a button on the pocket.

T-shirt print used as purse front pocket
T-shirt print used as purse front pocket

Since the jersey fabric of the tee was very flimsy feeling I used a heavy weight interfacing, instead of the recommended medium weight. I then used the remaining tee fabric (which wasn’t a lot) as the contrasting band.

Inside the purse
Inside the purse

You’ll also notice that the t-shirt was originally from the Disney store, so while I cut apart the shirt, I carefully removed the Disney Store tag so that I could sew it into the purse.

Removed Disney Tag
Removed Disney Tag
Tag sewed back into the purse
Tag sewed back into the purse

All an all I came out well. I really hope she likes it.

Completed purse
Completed purse

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Akram Taghavi-Burris

designer, writer, educator, tech nerd, crafter, baker, sewer and vintage collector, who Brings Creative & Crazy Ides to Life.

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