My attempt to make a purse of a bowtucks tote pattern.
 

There is a thread already: http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...k-t187290.html
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I custom made the inner pockets to fit all my "junk" into. The problem is they are all too close to the top, so stuff will fall out.

There is no room to insert a zipper or anything. I think I may try to put magnetic snaps in. There is already a super magnet top center.

btw the bottom is stiff because I inserted acrylic plate and screwed "feet" into it, hoping to keep the bag off the surface it sits on.

Oh, and the cross body padded straps are supposed to help alleviate my neck and back problems. Ok, I posted way too much info about this. Thanks for looking! If you have any ideas to help the top of it, great! I barely fit the layers into my machine.

What a nice purse.

What I've done when I wanted the top closed after it was done- Make a flap and sew onto one side, on the other side either put in a magnetic snap or velcro. You might have to work at the snap or velcro since you have the pockets inside. The other option would be an elastic & button. You could open the top seam a little and insert a pony tail elastic into the seam and resew.
Good luck. If all else fails, you can make another one. I'm always making changes to my patterns and making another one.

This is a clever use of part of the jeans for the outside pocket!!! I'll bet it was a job to get your machine to sew through all of those layers!!! Great job!!!

Thanks for the suggestion Patty, I was thinking of something like that, but I should have done before I sewed the straps in. They are in place before the lining is sewed to the outer and turned.

Thanks for noticing Maggie, I thought the idea was cute.

It was very hard sewing through all these layers. I was going to turn the pocket and ended up using the serger.

In case anyone is still following this ... I opened up the strap seams near the purse and inserted magnetic snaps. I started putting all my stuff in last night but got discouraged. I think I may remove the custom liner and insert it in a bought purse, and use the denim outer for a tote.

Nice purse!