hola, isabel

Remember how my bestest friend May came to visit from Reno last May? (I should have put more through into her fake interweb name, as “May” causes too much confusion in the month of May. Whatever. It’s too late now.)

Anyway, remember when May came to visit last month? We did lots of fun things. Some of which included:

• shopping (at the outlet mall)
• eating ice cream (using coupons, so it was free)
• going out to eat (more times then I care to admit)
• taking lunch to our husbands that were working on the new house
• chasing our kids around
• catching up on lost time

And last, but not least:

• CRAFTING!!

That’s right, with May in town, we crafted our little brains out. If the title of Most Fabulous Crating Queen In All The Land exists, I here by bestow in on May. (I mean, come on!)

We spent our first day together at a Super Saturday! event at my church (it’s really called that throughout the entire church). Besides being awesome in general, us Mormons also like to get together and do fun Super(!) activities.

Sometimes on Saturdays!

This particular Super Saturday(!) was filled with all sorts of crafting options.

May and I opted for the How To Make a Purse Out of a Placemat class. This particular class cost us each $8 for supplies. But, at no extra cost to you, dear readers, I’m passing on the information to you!

First you must start with the needed supplies:

• Placemat (ours were bought at Target)
• Purse handles (found at any local crafting supply shop)
• Ribbon (I prefer cute ribbon. But if your prefer ugly ribbon, get whatever you like.)
• Clear plastic thread

You’ll also need scissors and a sewing machine although you’ll only need to know how to sew a straight line. I promise you that the only knowledge you’ll need. (I do not know how to sew. I repeat, I do not know how to sew.)

Fold your placemat in half to get the general idea where to place your jaunty ribbon. (The ribbon should be placed in a prominent place on the purse, as it’s really going to be the focal point.)

May and I both chose to sew our ribbon closer to the bottom, although the teacher thought this was all wrong. HAAA, look at us all being rebellious and stuff. And at a church event. Take that, Jesus!

We used clear plastic thread for this entire project. Although I’m sure you could use any type of thread. The plastic kind just seemed stronger for this purpose.

Make sure to stop, periodically, for pictures.

After you’ve sewn the ribbon on, fold your placemat in half (long ways) and sew the edges from top to bottom. You don’t need to leave a lot of room for seam allowances, so feel free to sew as close to the edge as you can get.

(It also helps to make sure your outfit matches what you’re sewing.) (Dude, I’m such a nerd.)

Next, and this is the confusing part (at least to me), you need to take the bottom on the edge and using your finger, fold it into a sort of “tab” shape.

Using your machine, sew a straight line at the top of the tab.

I’ve drawn a line on the picture to better accentuate where to sew. (Darn plastic thread does not show up in pictures. I guess that’s the point of the clear thread.)

After you’ve sewn the edges of the tab, you’ll want to shape them so that your purse can sit flat. Like so:

(Yes, that’s a stage in the background. You might not have heard, but us Mormons like to put on shows. May I suggest you check out this post where Janssen and her husband recreate a scene from High School Musical. You wont’ be disappointed.) (Again, us Mormons are so cool.)

It must be noted that while I was busy sewing (my cold black) heart out, May’s kept breaking needles on her machine. Here I am crafting like the fool I am while the teacher fixes May’s machine in the background. This freed May up for picture-taking-duty.

Now it’s time to sew on your handles. Using four small pieces of the matching ribbon, loop it round the bottom of the handles and sew them to the inside of your purse.

To ensure it’s secure, sew a few lines and maybe make an “X”.

You’ll need to sew all four parts of the handles to the purse. But guess what?

That’s it. After you’ve completed this part, you’re super cute placemat purse is completed.

And isn’t it super dreamy?

Of course, you can add anything to the outside to help jazz it up. If it’s your thing you could add a little bow to the ribbon.

Or maybe an artificial flower. Or two.

I think a little yellow might add the right “umph” to it.

Or maybe even some turquoise flowers. I’m super into red and turquoise right now.

So there you have it, how to make a cute little purse out of a simple placemat. I dare you to try this at home.

(Don’t you think my red purse will be perfect with a cute summer dress? You know, if the weather here in Seattle is ever warm enough for a cute summer dress.)

I can’t wait to use this. And when someone compliments me on it (and you know they will), I’ll be all “yeah, I made it. Out of a placemat!”