How to make a quilt design into an embroidered handbag! -

Sweet Pea Embroidery has a lot of cute handbag patterns, but some are better with a larger embroidery hoop. My hoop choices are 4×4 or 5×7 with my embroidery machine right now. These hoop sizes are great. But some of the bags I have on my wish list are ones that you can only make 6×10 and larger. Or they are bags that come out so darn small when using a 5×7 hoop.

Then one day it dawned on me that I can take any quilt pattern they have and make it into a bag! The quilt patterns come in a range of sizes from 4×4 squares to 7×7 and sometimes even 8×8! I could make 5×5 square blocks and sew them into a bag. The best part is that when using the 4×4 or 5×5, I can add as many squares as I want. And it’ll make the bag as large as I would like!

After that initial a-ha moment, I had to figure out what pattern to use. Eventually, I added a lot of their quilt patterns to my “make as a bag” list. This flower pattern was the first one that I decided to try first. This one, though, comes in different sizes. Some flower blocks are 5×5 squares, and some are 5×7 rectangles, so it took me a bit to play with the layout and figure out how to make it the size I wanted.

First Steps

When making a quilt into a bag, I first decide whether to use fabric as the base or marine vinyl. I love using marine vinyl for a base, but sometimes I don’t have the right color, or the embroidery on the block will be too dense, or too many appliqué pieces to make sense.

If I decide to go with fabric as my base for the block, I make sure to use a bag stiffener underneath. This helps to have my bag stand up. I know some people don’t mind a floppy tote bag, but I do like my bags to stand up on their own. I don’t use the stiffener if I use vinyl as the base, as the vinyl blocks stand up fine without adding a stiffener under them.

For the bag stiffener, you can purchase some here from Sweet Pea Embroidery. You can also use some Pellon 926. I use it when I run out of the Sweet Pea brand until I can get more.

Making the Quilt Blocks

To make the bag, follow the directions for the Sweet Pea quilt block in whichever pattern you are using. The only addition to the pattern is if you use stiffener, cut it to the same size as your batting, and slip it under the batting before stitching it down. Then trim it at the same time you are trimming your batting pieces.

Also, use a heavy-duty one instead of using a lightweight stabilizer, as you normally would when making a quilt. That way, it also helps your blocks to stand up and not be so soft.

For this pattern, I used colors similar to those pictured on the Sweet Pea website and white as the base. I went with white-on-white patterned fabric, as I felt the swirls in the fabric gave off a fun ’60s/’70s vibe, the same vibe the flowers gave me! I know it’s probably just me, but the bag made me think of the Partridge Family. While sewing it together at the end, I kept singing their song “I Think I Love You” to myself!!

I used marine vinyl for the flower petals and yellow cotton fabric for the yellow middles. I think they came out really cute!

Constructing the Bag

Once all your blocks are done, that’s when you switch from “quilt making” mode to “bag making” mode! Lay your blocks out to decide how you would like them to come together for your bag, making sure you lay out both the front and back of the bag. For this bag, I made the front and back slightly different. However, you can make both sides the same; it’s all up to you and your preferences.

After you have all your blocks sewn together to create a front and back, that’s when I follow my favorite Sweet Pea bag pattern for the bag construction. For this bag, I followed the bag construction directions for the Triangle All Shapes Tote bag that I had made previously.

I think this bag made out of a quilt pattern came out great! And the gift recipient loved it!