Monster Coin Purse

Kids love a little purse in which to keep a few coins or small treasures. These monster purses are quick to make and take very little fabric. They’re small enough to sew by hand if you don’t have a sewing machine. Make a bunch of them for party favours!

• A piece of fur fabric with a medium to long pile, at least 4½” x 9” / 12cm x 23cm
• Optional: red lining fabric, the same size as above
• A zip (aka zipper) in a contrasting colour, at least 4” / 10cm long, with metal or chunky plastic teeth
• A pair of toy safety eyes
• A scrap of red or pink felt
• A razor blade or sharp craft knife
• Tailor’s chalk, or blackboard chalk
• The usual sewing materials: needle, thread, pins, scissors, etc

Find something round that’s about 4½”/12cm diameter (an espresso cup’s saucer did it for me) and draw round it with chalk on the back of the fur fabric. Mark out a second circle on the fur fabric, and a pair of circles on the lining fabric too if you’re using it.

Cut out all the circles. It’s best to cut long-pile fur fabric from the wrong side using a razor blade or sharp craft knife, so that the pile isn’t cut short.

Take one of the fur circles that will be the top of the purse - the monster's back. Fold it in half, right side out and pile direction in line with the fold, and press the fold with your fingers to leave an indent along the diameter. Draw a chalk line along it before it disappears. Mark a point (Point A) on this diameter on the wrong side of the fabric, just in from the upper edge of the circle (ie pile running away from this point) and also mark a second point 1¼”/3cm from the same edge. Mark the eye positions ¾”/2cm either side of the second point (see photo).

(You could fit the eyes at this point – see Step 4 - but I think it’s easier to sew such a small item without having the eyes getting in the way.)

Mark Point A on the second fur fabric circle in the same way. This will be the monster's belly.

Cut a tongue from felt using the photos as a guide, or you could give it a forked tip. It should be about 1”/2.5cm wide and 2”/5cm long. Place it on the furry side of the purse underside (the monster's belly), just to one side of Point A, with the tip of the tongue pointing inwards. Pin (or tack) it close to the edge of the fur fabric.

The zip needs to go about 1/3 of the way around the circumference of the purse, which means it should be roughly the same length as the diameter. Very short zips are quite hard to find, but if yours is too long you can shorten it by following online tutorials such as this one: https://www.craftsy.com/post/how-to-shorten-a-zipper

Now line up the zip around the edge of the purse top (monster's back) so that its middle is at Point A with the right side of the zip face down on the fur. The edge of the zip tape should run along the edge of the fabric circle. Stitch it down in a narrow (3/8”/10mm) seam, either by hand or using a zip foot on your sewing machine. (There’s no need to use a stretchy machine stitch because the zip tape won’t stretch.)

Open the zip fully and position the free side of its tape on the right side of the underside of the purse (monster's belly), as for the top, again with the pile running away from the mid-point of the zip. Stitch that side too, catching in the tongue as you go.

Close the zip almost to the top, just leave enough of a gap to get a finger in to open it fully later - or you won’t be able to turn the purse the right way out.

With the top and bottom pieces of the purse right sides together, stitch the seam around the edge from the top of the zip to the bottom of it. Use a narrow zigzag on your sewing machine (don’t forget to change from the zip foot first!) or take small stitches if sewing by hand, or the stitches may break if the purse is pulled enough to stretch the fabric. Just squeeze all the layers together at each end of the zip and don’t worry too much if it’s a bit bunched up or there’s a small gap, the pile of the fur fabric will hide any imperfections.

Working from the outside of the purse, carefully pull the pile free from the seam with the blunt end of a needle. That should make the seam almost invisible.

Use a small pair of scissors to trim the pile short along the monster’s lips if it’s in danger of getting caught in the zip.

The zip tape won’t want to lie flat unless it’s snipped to make it go round the curved edge, which isn’t a good idea. Instead, slipstitch it down to the wrong side of the fur fabric on the inside of the purse to keep it away from the opening.

Open the zip and fit the safety eyes at the places you marked on the monster's back. (You might want to lay them on top of the purse and check you’re happy with the positions first.) They generally come with instructions but you’ll need to pierce a small hole with the point of your scissors and then feed the eye though it from the right side, securing it on the inside with the eye back.

Tip: if your eyes are too close to the colour of the fur fabric to stand out, attach them through circles of white felt that are slightly larger than an eye. And if the fur pile is so long that it obscures the eyes, trim it shorter around them.

If you’re not lining the purse, it’s finished now. But for a neater finish go to the next step.

Mark Point A (see Step 1) on both lining pieces. On one of them, also mark the points around the edge where the seam needs to start and stop to leave an opening. The opening should be ½”/13mm longer than the zip opening at each end (so 5” for a 4” zip), and centred on Point A.

Place the lining pieces right sides together with Points A lined up. Stitch around the seam between your marks and then tack around the remainder of the circumference where the opening will be. Take a slightly wider seam than you did for the fur fabric, maybe 1/8” (3mm) more, to make the lining just a bit smaller.

Iron (or finger-press) the seam open, including the tacked portion, then remove the tacking.

With the lining still inside out, slip it into the purse, wrong sides together. Pin the opening (with the raw edges turned under) to the inside of the zip tape, on or behind the line of stitching – keep well clear of the teeth. Slipstitch by hand all around the opening edge, tucking any excess pleats of lining in neatly at each end.

Fill with goodies and give to the child of your choice.