Snow Bear purse

I have cut-offs from several pairs of men's fleece pant legs -- the bottom 10", including the hem. As I debated what to do with them, I was inspired to make Margaret a purse for Christmas.


I flipped through the book "Fa la la la Felt", by Amanda Carestio, for some seasonal ideas, and found a photo of a Christmas stocking featuring a folk art bear surrounded by falling snowflakes. I adapted it slightly to fit the space I had on the pant leg bottom.

Using some craft store felt, I appliqued the bear and snowflakes onto the pant leg. I used the hemmed edge as the top of the purse, since it was all nicely serged. Then I sewed up the cut side of the leg to create the bottom of the purse. I made some handles out of scraps of polar fleece I had left from another project.

Finally, I made a lining for the bag using some fish print fabric -- because I figure that fish and bears go together! It was a fat quarter I'd gotten from somewhere that didn't seem to go with any other fabric I had, and I thought it would make a fun and colourful inside for the bag.

So there you go -- a little girl's purse, made out of all kinds of scrappy bits. I'm really happy with how it turned out!