I had read this idea somewhere but finally got around to trying it. It works great!

To make an easy, cheap, effective base for purses, buy a square floor tile (I guess it's linoleum) and cut it to size. These are the peel and stick kind...mine is 12" square and cost about 70 cents at Home Depot. I used a pencil and one of my quilt rulers to mark the tile to size, then used the ruler and a utility knife to cut it (after several slices I could bend the tile back and then cut through the paper backing).

It provides just the right amount of flexibility and support. You can, of course, make a fabric envelope for it (I refer not to sew mine closed, so that it can be removed when the purse and base cover are washed).

What a great idea, I will definitely keep this in mind. Thank you.

Thanks, great idea!

Wow, I guess I will have to try that out. I've always used the plyable cross-stitch plastic and cut to fit the size of the bag.

Thanks for the great idea. Another idea is corragated plastic. If you have a sign making shop in your area, corragated plastic is used to make signs. Its easy to cut to size and costs less than a dollar per piece. :thumbup:

All good ideas -thanks!

I have lots of tiles left over from projects! Guess what I will be using them for!!

Thank you for the suggestion! I have purchased those BagE bottoms from Lazy Girl before but they are soooooo expensive. Your idea sounds like a very economical solution to the problem.

I've seen this suggestion before and thought it was a good idea, but didn't know where to buy the materials. Lately, though, I've seen several signs for events that are past and thought about stopping to snag a couple.

I have another one...last year after Christmas I bought several rigid plastic placemats...I can cut enough bottoms from one to do a lot of purses...I think I paid about .25 each for them!

great ideas, thanks for sharing with us

I am using an old cutting mat. I have some heavy duty scissors that cut it pretty good. I'll use the tiles when the mat is all used up. Thanks for the tip!

Sounds good. As soon as I'm done using an 8" stack of plastic canvas that I bought on a garage sale for $1, I'll give it a try.

Wonderful idea!!! Will be trying that out tomorrow on an Autumn bag. Thanks so much!

Oh what a great idea...one of those that makes you say " why didn't I think of that?" thanks for sharing.

i buy those plastic grids for needlework and such. i cut them to size and cover with fabric.

That's what my first purse pattern called for, and I used them while looking for something a little stiffer. It probably depends on your personal preference (how rigid you want your base to be) and the size of the bag.

I buy kitty litter in large plastic "bottles". I keep the "sides" for using in purse bottoms (Have only made 3). It worked great....put in a "pocket" so it could be removed to wash bags.

What a great idea. I never would have thought of that.