Modern Sew Powerful Purse Pattern (2025)
About This Pattern: We're excited to share our most streamlined version of the Sew Powerful Purse, new for 2025! Our original Intermediate Level pattern was introduced in 2015, over the years we have taken the feedback from both the program recipients and the purse makers and refined the pattern, introducing the Beginner Level Design in 2018 and now the "cut to the chase" design for 2025.
For this new Modern Sew Powerful Purse Design, we've stripped it back to the core purse body, combined a few pieces to reduce sewing time, and simplified the instructions to just 3 pages! This updated design is easy to sew and works well with a variety of fabrics when paired with fusible interfacing.
The purse design is simple, with straight seams and box pleated corners. The main difference between this design and the prior 2018 Beginner Purse is that there aren't any exterior pocket layers and the front and back purse body pieces are combined into one large rectangle. The purse is lined with a single interior pocket sewn to the lining, perfect for holding your hand written note card!
We recommend that all pieces of this design are interfaced with a fusible interfacing such as , Pellon SF101. That adds a nice structure and durability to the bag.
The Purse Flap is a blank canvas, ready for you to embellish as you wish! We have a large collection of Machine Embroidery purse flap designs available for FREE.
Other ideas include - orphan quilt blocks, scrappy sewing, ribbon embellishments, use of buttons and charms, and so much more! Be sure to check out the Sew Powerful Purse Project for inspiration and examples!
Supplies Needed:
- 1/2 yard fabric (Entire Bag One Fabric) OR
- 2 Fat Quarters (1-Purse & Flap, 1-Lining)OR
- 3 Fat Quarters (Pattern Example, +1-Flap)OR
- Upcycled Denim and 1 Fat Quarter for Lining)
- Webbing 1” x 52” (for strap)
- Woven Fusible Interfacing (Pellon SF101 or similar) 3/4 yard (20” wide)
- Thread
- Sewing Machine
- Iron and pressing tools
Suggested Fabrics:
- Canvas, Denim, Twill (no interfacing needed)
- Quilting Cotton (with fusible interfacing)
- Upcycled Denim - Incorporating front & back pockets from jeans is a popular idea!
- Purse Lining: Quilting Cotton (with fusible interfacing)
Love the fabrics featured on the pattern cover? MODA Fabrics graciously donated fabrics from some of their new lines - we were ecstatic and immediately knew the swirly Groove fabric from Emily Van Hoff would make an amazing Purse Flap! We paired it with MODA Grunge Basics, in Cosmic and Blush.
What is the Sew Powerful Purse Project? We are working hard to link seamstresses from around the world to combat extreme poverty by providing re-usable feminine hygiene supplies and health training to girls in Zambia. This enables them to attend school all month and improve their academic performance.
Our Unique Product Packaging is - The Sew Powerful Purse! You might wonder why we ask seamstresses from around the world to download our Sew Powerful Purse Pattern, sew purses, and send them to us. The answer is simple. We need the help and support of the global sewing community to tackle the issue. We also need a beautiful product package, and what is more beautiful than amazing hand-made purses? So involving the western seamstresses accomplishes these two vitally important goals. We are very lucky to have our international shipping donated by a very large non-profit. Be sure to watch our full walk-through video if you have any questions.