Bridal Purse & Hanky

A friend of mine recently asked me to help her out and do a sewing job for her.  Her niece was getting married.  The bride’s mother died when she was young, and she doesn’t have much that was her mother’s.  Would I please make a handkerchief and small purse from one of her mother’s blouses?

Of course I was happy to take on the challenge.  The hardest part was taking the blouse apart while keeping its character in tact.  I decided to leave the buttons and button holes where they were and make them a part of the new product.

She wanted lace on the back of the hanky, which made it a whole lot easier!  I am not yet a whiz with the handkerchief hem, and so making a “pillowcase” hanky looks much nicer.

A tiny bit of time to tack down the top of the lace by hand was well worth it.

Leaving the facing with the buttonholes as they were made the one end much easier and is a nice reminder that this is her mother’s blouse.  I think so anyway.

On to the purse!

I wanted to use the opposite side of the front, with the buttons on it.  A round drawstring bag is an easy pattern to find on Pinterest.  I started with this one, adapted it to fit: 1. The amount of fabric I had, (which, to the surprise of my middle school self, involved a certain calculation involving 🥧 er actually Pi). 2. The size I wanted and 3. so that there were 2 side seams and 2 drawstrings.  I also added the lace trim to the inside lining and one more special touch.

A Pocket!  Yes girls love pockets, but this isn’t just any pocket.  It is one of the side seam pockets from the blouse.  So if she is sentimental like me, she can put her hand, where her mother’s hand was.  I admit this took quite a bit of trial and error.  I have made many zipper pockets using this technique but it is not so easy without the zipper.  I am glad there was a back of the blouse to use. Thankfully it is on the inside of the purse!

I hope she loves it!