Weave-It Purse

I was going to put this purse pattern up at Ravelry as a PDF file, but since it is so simple, I decided to just post it here and link to it at Ravelry. I originally made the purse for a 2005 fiber arts class at the University of Houston - Clear Lake and it makes a fun purse for a little girl, or, when made with less garish colors, could even be a sweet party purse.

This little purse uses squares woven on a Weave-It Loom along with crocheted straps. Weave-It looms can be found on eBay and at flea markets or antique stores, but newer versions of this type of loom can be found at Buxton Brook Looms and Hazel Rose Looms. You can also crochet or knit 3.5” squares instead. Different weaving patterns can be found in several books and downloads. You’ll find links to these sites at the end of the instructions.

• Queue up on Ravelry

Supplies:

Loom: Weave-It, Weavette, or Hazel Rose 4” square loom and weaving needle
Yarn: Sample uses Red Heart Kids Solid: Navy, Lime, Orange, Pink, and Yellow
Button: 1” button to match yarn used
Fabric: Approx. ¼ yard matching fabric for lining
Crochet Hook: I/9 or size to match selected yarn

Body:

Weave 2 plain weave squares each of the lime, orange, pink, and yellow yarns.

Weave 1 patterned square of the navy yarn. (See the eLoomaNation site for some patterns.)

Note: If you use a thinner yarn, you may need to double up when warping the loom and weaving, otherwise the holes will be too large.

For front of purse, use the navy yarn to whip stitch four squares together, one each of the lime, orange, pink, and yellow. Repeat for back of purse.

Place the navy square in the center of the purse front and sew it to the front using the navy yarn.

Place the front and back together, wrong sides together. Use the navy yarn and stitch three of the sides together, leaving one side open. Note on the sample that I used a very simple in and out stitch over two threads. It doesn't have to be perfect either.

Strap:

With navy yarn, attach with sc to the front right corner loop of the front piece. Sc in each of the next 4 loops at the top of the woven square. *Ch 3, turn, 1 dc in each dc across.* Repeat from * to * until strap is as long as needed. Sample strap is 20" long. When strap is long enough, attach with sc to the left corner of the back of the purse (see photo below).

Closure:

Closure is made separately then sewn to the back of the purse.

Ch 10, turn, ch 2, hdc in each ch across, turn, ch 2, hdc in each ch across, turn, ch 1, sc in each hdc across. When you reach the end, ch 1, sc in end of first row of hdcs, ch 10, sc in end of next hdc row, fasten off.

Place finished closure at back of purse, on the outside, centering it over the top two squares. Use the navy yarn to attach it securely to the back.

Button:

Fold the closure over to the front of the purse and mark where the button will go using a straight pin. Attach the button at the marked location.

Lining:

Measure the purse width and height and add 1" to each measurement, for example, purse is 7" sq + 1" = 8". Cut two squares of the lining fabric using the measurement just taken. With wrong sides together, sew three sides together using a 1/2" seam. On the open end, fold down the edge 1/2" with the raw edge on the wrong side. Turn the pocket right side out and put inside the purse. Line up the top folded edge of the lining with the top of the purse, making sure the folded edge is below the loops of the woven squares. Sew the top of the lining to the purse top edge. It can be hand sewn, but a machine sewn stitch will be stronger.

And that is it!

Links to sites to purchase small looms and instructions, or find free patterns, etc.

• Buxton Brook Looms – Basic instructions online and flip book: Modular Textures: Patterns for the Weavette® & Weave-it Looms with 30 patterns
• Weavies – Weavies One book, 16 projects
• eLoomaNation – Exploration of small looms, history, download PDF versions of old Weave-It booklets and user guides for different versions of the small looms
• eLoomanator – Blog for the eLoomaNation site, ideas, patterns, and more.

Shorah Y'all!