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How to Make a Feed Sack Purse

Woven plastic feed sacks are durable and often feature brightly colored animal pictures and logos. Whether you have a farm, ranch or backyard chicken coop, you don't have to toss old feed sacks into the trash. Recycle feed sacks into funky, chic tote-style handbags, easily customized to whatever size you prefer. This project is so simple that you can readily make a stack of feed sack purses for gifts or to mix and match with any outfit.

Things You'll Need

1 or 2 empty, clean feed sacks
Ruler or measuring tape
Scissors
Pins
Sewing machine
Thread
Twill or ribbon (optional)

Instructions

- 1
  Select your feed sacks. Vintage burlap feed sacks can be found at thrift or antique stores, or you can use an empty modern polywoven feed sack. Make sure the feed sack is empty and clean.
- 2
  Determine your tote dimensions. The purse will be as wide as your original feed bag, but you will need to select a height for your purse. You can either make a shallow or tall tote, depending on your preference.
- 3
  Measure and cut out a center portion of the feed sack that is 1 inch taller than your desired purse height. Decide what section of the feed sack features the design you would like and center around that before cutting. Cut straight across to remove the bottom of the feed sack and the top of the feed sack, leaving a tube of feed sack that is 1 inch taller than your purse and includes the feed sack imagery you would like displayed on your purse.
- 4
  Turn the feedback inside out. Fold and pin 1/2 inch of the top of the bag over. Sew around the top of the bag to hem the top in place.
- 5
  Measure the bottom of the feed sack's length and width. Cut a rectangular piece of the leftover feed sack with the same measurements as the open bottom of the feed sack. If you are making a very tall tote, you may need to cut this from a second feed sack.
- 6
  Turn the rectangular piece so that the inside is facing up and pin one long side of the rectangle to one long side of the bottom of the feed sack. Sew with a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Pin one of the short sides of the rectangle to the short side of the feed sack and sew in place with a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Continue with the other two sides of the rectangle and feed sack. Stitch around the entire perimeter again to reinforce. Turn the feed sack back right side out.
- 7
  Measure the length you would like your purse's handle to be, measuring from the center of of one open top side of the feed sack to the center of the other open top side. Add 2 inches to this measurement and cut a 2-inch-wide strip of leftover feed sack equal in length to your measurement. Again, you may need to cut this from a second feed sack depending on your purse's size.
- 8
  Pin one side of the handle to the inside of the center of one open top side, with 1 inch of the handle below the top of the bag. Sew a one inch square around the perimeter of the pinned handle to attach it to the bag. Stitch an "X" in the center of the square to secure. Pin the other side of the handle to the inside of the opposite side of the bag, in the center, with 1 inch of the handle below the top of the bag. Sew a 1-inch-square around the perimeter of the pinned handle to attach it to the bag. Stitch an "X" in the center of the square to secure

Sewing