SYS: The Little Things Purse {Jen with Eat. Sleep. MAKE.}

Thanks for joining us for Stuff Your Stockings, a handmade gift series at Eat. Sleep. MAKE.

Sorry, no awesome guest blogger today, just little ol' me with a gift for the ladies in your life. For my handmade gift, I wanted to share a project I made for myself that I absolutely love (especially during shopping season!)

I wasn't really into shopping until I met my husband. But then, he introduced me to the women in the family and it was over. Now, I'm not sure what I was thinking back then. I love going on shopping trips with my family - especially when Starbucks is involved!

I made this purse with a specific purpose in mind: when I went out shopping with the girls, I wanted a small purse that would hold only the essentials I needed for a day full of shopping. Because, as we all know, you don't want a bulky purse holding you back when you have serious shopping to do! If you have any major shoppers in your family, I'm sure they'd love a little purse just like this one.

SUPPLIES: 2 pieces of fabric size 5 in. wide and 5.5 in. long for outside of the purse, 2 pieces of fabric size 5 in. wide by 7.5 in. long for the lining of the purse, 2 pieces of leather 5 in. wide by 3 in. long for the outside of the bag, leather scrap 1 in. wide by 23.5 in. long for the strap, and scrap leather for the pocket. (Optional: snaps or velcro for the closure.)

ONE: first, cut out all of your pieces according to the dimensions listed above.
TWO: with the right sides together, place a piece of your main outside fabric on top of your main outside leather and line up the 5 inch edges. Sew slowly and carefully to join. Unfold and topstitch along the sewn edge. Repeat with the second piece of outside fabric and main leather pieces.
THREE: place your two main pieces right sides together. Sew the sides and bottom, making sure to leave the top unsewn.
FOUR: sew on your leather piece for the pocket
FIVE: attach your straps to the sides of your main fabric.
SIX: place your lining pieces right sides together and sew the sides and bottom together, making sure to leave an opening several inches long at the bottom for turning. If you'd like to add snaps or velcro for a closure, do this now.
SEVEN: with your lining inside out and your main fabric right side out, slip your main fabric inside your lining fabric as shown in the picture above and pin all around. Sew closed.
EIGHT: pull your main fabric through the hole you left open in your lining fabric.
NINE: hand stitch the hole closed.

Now you have a fantastic little purse for all of your shopping day essentials.

I like to bring my phone, some credit cards, and other little shopping essentials in my purse.

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We hope you've enjoyed the Stuff Your Stockings series! We've all had fun sharing our handmade gifts with you, and hopefully now you have some ideas for what to make for your loved ones this season.

Shannon and I want to say a big thank you to Lucy, Bev, and Rachel for hanging out with us this week! They're some very talented ladies, and we're so thankful that they took time out of their busy schedules to share their projects on Eat. Sleep. MAKE.

And lastly, we want to thank YOU, our readers, as well - with a little giveaway! Check back Monday for your chance to win some great stuff!