Felt and ribbon purse for carrying little treasures about

In this post I'm going into more detail about the felt, ribbon and button purse that I made for Mia, using some ribbon that I received from Fantastic Ribbons. It's really simple to make, and she is loving using it to carry her little treasures around the house while she goes about her role play. 

I should mention that this isn't a toy and you should always supervise your child while they are using it as the ribbon around the neck could be dangerous.

All you need is a piece of felt, some cord or ribbon, some velcro and some buttons. I chose purple felt to go with the pink dotty ribbon and buttons.

First work out how large you want the purse to me. Mine measures about 12cm wide by 9cm high. Your felt needs to be three times the height that you want the purse, then cut the top section so that it is shaped like a flat topped triangle. I made a template in paper first to cut out from the felt.

Fold up the bottom half of the purse and sew down each side. Then sew the ribbon down each side so that it covers up the sides. I suspect that there is a better way to do it than the way that I did it, possibly involving an iron, I did find it rather fiddly! Then sew in a small piece of velcro so that you can close the purse.

For the button embellishment I sewed the buttons onto a piece of felt first, then cut around it. It is sewn over the part of the flap where you could see stitches from the velcro underneath.

Finally, measure a long length of ribbon so that the purse will either sit over the recipients tummy or hang to about their waist, then sew in securely at each side. I twisted the ribbon so that the dotty side is always showing. Make sure that it is sewn as firmly as you can, as the purse is bound to be swung about while full!

And here's a photo of it in use! I'm sorry that it's a bit blurry, she doesn't stay still for long, and I've cropped out her head because (as usual) her hair desperately needed a good brush!