Knitted Fabric Empress Purse

2. Tear or cut 3/4-inch strips along the cross grain and tie, sew, or glue together as needed.
Another option would be to make a bias tube and cut a 3/4-inch bias strip the length of the tube.

3. Fold and press strip lengthwise and roll into a ball.

4. To knit the purse: Cast on 20 stitches. Trim off excess to a few inches

5. Knit next row.

6. Purl next row.

7. Repeat knit and purl until the piece is 20 inches long.

8. Bind off and trim excess off to a few inches.

9. Block the finished rectangle by pressing. Make it as straight as possible. Measure the length and width of the finished rectangle. It should measure about 8" x 20."

10. To construct the purse: Cut a piece of the fabric the same size as knitted piece for the lining.

11. Cut a 4-inch piece of ribbon and fold to form a loop. Line up the raw edges of the ribbon on the top edge of the lining's right side. Pin and stitch in place.

12. Cut a 6" x 9" piece for the pocket. Fold in half right sides together (to be 6" x 4-1/2") and stitch 1/2-inch on sides and bottom, leaving a 2-inch opening at the bottom. Turn to right side and press, tucking in the 2-inch gap.

13. Place pocket on fabric, where indicated, with fold pointing toward the loop and stitch around the sides and bottom near the edge. Back-tack at the beginning and end of stitching to secure.

14. On the wrong side of the lining, hand-baste strips of stitch-witchery about 1 inch from each short edge.

15. Place lining and knitted piece right sides together. Pin in place, stretching the knitted piece to fit the lining. The right side of the knitted piece is the smooth side.

16. Using a long stitch on your sewing machine with a 1/4-inch seam allowance, stitch around leaving approximately a 4-inch opening where indicated.

17. Turn purse right side out. Press, making sure the stitch-witchery is secure. This helps to keep the lining from showing.

18. Remove the basting stitches. Now hand-stitch the opening.

19. With right sides together, fold up the bottom of the purse approximately 6-1/2 inches from the bottom. Using a fabric strip, sew together the sides of the purse by sewing through loops of fabric. When finished, weave the ends in to hide them.

20. Hand-sew the cord strap to the purse using a double strand of thread and a small stitch. Adjust the length of the cord to your own body length.

21. Sew the button on to align with the ribbon loop for a closure.