DIY Little Girls Purse

Are you looking for a free purse pattern to sew for a toddler or small child? This sweet girl's purse is perfect for them to stash things and carry things with them. 

The precious little purse is a quick gift to sew for a little daughter, granddaughter, niece or friend.  Nothing like a small purse to make a little kid feel all grown up and girly.

First off, the DIY purse is by Sewing Times. And best of all, the pattern is FREE!  At the end of this article is a link to the free pattern at Sewing Times.

In addition to the free sewing purse pattern, for your convenience, Sewing Times has a video tutorial and written instructions with photos on how to make this purse.  While the written instructions may be a little confusing; pairing the written instructions with the video tutorial helps in executing the girl's purse.

Learn more about this little DIY purse pattern for little girls by watching our video Or keep reading this post.

Sewing Times little purse has the shape of a grown-up shoulder bag with a cute curved ruffled flap, a completely lined interior  (no raw edges), a flap closure and a shoulder strap.

Love the ruffles around the flap on the bag!  I also like that it is fully lined and is cutest with three complimentary fabrics.

This little girl purse pattern can be made by anyone, even a beginner sewist.  I promise this pattern is not hard and whips up in no time.  It’s the perfect size for a toddler's purse all the way to around age 8.

Information about the girl's purse

Making this DIY little girl's purse is a fun, easy project.  It's also an excellent project for yourself and your child to sew together; teaching them how to sew.

I used the original free pattern and tutorial to make this pink and white tote purse bag with a few modifications.  I'll tell you about the changes I made a little later in this article.

fabric requirement

The first step in creating this purse is selecting the fabric.  This purse makes a great scrap fabric project.

Choose a fabric that speaks to the child's personal style and interests.  If you are making this purse along with your child, let them rummage through your fabric stash or head to the fabric store to choose the fabric.

When making any project as well as this purse, first choose the main fabric.   Then find complimentary fabric for the lining and ruffle fabric.

You can use fat quarters for the fabric for the outside and lining of the bag. The strap and ruffle pieces need longer pieces of fabric so fat quarters will not work for them.  So if you don't already have some fabric for these pieces in your stash, you will have to purchase about 1/8 of a yard for each.

the lining

The bag lining is a nice feature as it serves to add structure and stability and to enhance the appearance of the bag.

Finished size of little girl's purse

Original Pattern: 6" wide by 5" tall (not including strap).

Modified Pattern: 7 3/4" wide by 6 3/4" tall (not including strap).

Little Girl Purse Pattern modifications

One of the reasons to sew is to create an item that is useful, interesting or exactly what you want or need.  Even though this pattern was so cute I made a few modifications or tweaks to meet my idea for a toddler purse.

So here are a few changes I made to the girl's purse!

Adjusting the Size

First, after printing the free pattern pieces, I realized the purse was going to be rather small; only approximately 6” x 5”.  An ideal size for holding toys and treasure, in my opinion, was a little larger.

Enlarging a pattern is much simpler than you may think.  You can do it with your home printer if it has an enlarging and reducing feature. You can increase the size of an image or document in the copy machines setting menu.

If you wish to make a larger purse, begin by cutting the two pattern pieces apart. Open the home printer lid and place the first piece face down on the document tray. Set the printer to create an enlarged version of the piece by 150 percent.

Enlarge the second pattern piece the same way.

Changing Closure Type

The next modification was the type of closure used for my little girl's purse.  Sewing Times used a magnetic button.  A magnetic button is not my choice for keeping a child's purse closed.  

To me, Velcro is more appropriate. Velcro is good for a more permanent hold and won’t unfasten as easily as a magnetic button. Hence, any treasures or toys are snuggly securely inside the purse.

The Ruffle

Since I enlarged the pattern, the ruffle size to cut in the original pattern would not be long enough.  A longer piece of ruffled fabric was necessary. I cut the ruffle fabric the width specified in the pattern but cut it across the fabric from selvage to selvage providing more than enough fabric to make the ruffle around the edge of the flap.

So that's it for changes! Simple techniques like these make it easy to create a bag that is exactly as you imagined it. This is the finished little girl's purse.

I truly believe this little purse makes a great gift for any little girl.  She can carry some of her favorite toys and special treasures in there!!

Want to find more free sewing patterns for bags?  Why not head over to our Totes, Bags and Purse page dedicated to lots of free patterns?  Pin and save your favorite bag sewing patterns to your Pinterest board for later. 

more sewing bag projects for kids

• Simple Drawstring Bag Kids Can Make
• Drawstring Bandana Bag
• Personalized Tote Bag 
• Denim Pocket Purse
• T-Shirt Tote Bag