Resize a QGraphicsItem with the mouse

You would need to implement the resizing yourself. To do that you need to subclass QGraphicsRectItem and implement mouse event handlers: mousePressEvent, mouseMoveEvent, mouseReleaseEvent. The general idea is the following:

• You create a set of handles that you can use to resize the shape.
• By tracking handles position change you calculate the new geometry of the shape.

I wrote some code times ago which was perfectly working with PyQt5, but it should work with PyQt4 too. You should be able to adapt it to you needs:

import sys

from PyQt5.QtCore import Qt, QRectF, QPointF
from PyQt5.QtGui import QBrush, QPainterPath, QPainter, QColor, QPen, QPixmap
from PyQt5.QtWidgets import QGraphicsRectItem, QApplication, QGraphicsView, QGraphicsScene, QGraphicsItem


class GraphicsRectItem(QGraphicsRectItem):

    handleTopLeft = 1
    handleTopMiddle = 2
    handleTopRight = 3
    handleMiddleLeft = 4
    handleMiddleRight = 5
    handleBottomLeft = 6
    handleBottomMiddle = 7
    handleBottomRight = 8

    handleSize = +8.0
    handleSpace = -4.0

    handleCursors = {
        handleTopLeft: Qt.SizeFDiagCursor,
        handleTopMiddle: Qt.SizeVerCursor,
        handleTopRight: Qt.SizeBDiagCursor,
        handleMiddleLeft: Qt.SizeHorCursor,
        handleMiddleRight: Qt.SizeHorCursor,
        handleBottomLeft: Qt.SizeBDiagCursor,
        handleBottomMiddle: Qt.SizeVerCursor,
        handleBottomRight: Qt.SizeFDiagCursor,
    }

    def __init__(self, *args):
        """
        Initialize the shape.
        """
        super().__init__(*args)
        self.handles = {}
        self.handleSelected = None
        self.mousePressPos = None
        self.mousePressRect = None
        self.setAcceptHoverEvents(True)
        self.setFlag(QGraphicsItem.ItemIsMovable, True)
        self.setFlag(QGraphicsItem.ItemIsSelectable, True)
        self.setFlag(QGraphicsItem.ItemSendsGeometryChanges, True)
        self.setFlag(QGraphicsItem.ItemIsFocusable, True)
        self.updateHandlesPos()

    def handleAt(self, point):
        """
        Returns the resize handle below the given point.
        """
        for k, v, in self.handles.items():
            if v.contains(point):
                return k
        return None

    def hoverMoveEvent(self, moveEvent):
        """
        Executed when the mouse moves over the shape (NOT PRESSED).
        """
        if self.isSelected():
            handle = self.handleAt(moveEvent.pos())
            cursor = Qt.ArrowCursor if handle is None else self.handleCursors[handle]
            self.setCursor(cursor)
        super().hoverMoveEvent(moveEvent)

    def hoverLeaveEvent(self, moveEvent):
        """
        Executed when the mouse leaves the shape (NOT PRESSED).
        """
        self.setCursor(Qt.ArrowCursor)
        super().hoverLeaveEvent(moveEvent)

    def mousePressEvent(self, mouseEvent):
        """
        Executed when the mouse is pressed on the item.
        """
        self.handleSelected = self.handleAt(mouseEvent.pos())
        if self.handleSelected:
            self.mousePressPos = mouseEvent.pos()
            self.mousePressRect = self.boundingRect()
        super().mousePressEvent(mouseEvent)

    def mouseMoveEvent(self, mouseEvent):
        """
        Executed when the mouse is being moved over the item while being pressed.
        """
        if self.handleSelected is not None:
            self.interactiveResize(mouseEvent.pos())
        else:
            super().mouseMoveEvent(mouseEvent)

    def mouseReleaseEvent(self, mouseEvent):
        """
        Executed when the mouse is released from the item.
        """
        super().mouseReleaseEvent(mouseEvent)
        self.handleSelected = None
        self.mousePressPos = None
        self.mousePressRect = None
        self.update()

    def boundingRect(self):
        """
        Returns the bounding rect of the shape (including the resize handles).
        """
        o = self.handleSize + self.handleSpace
        return self.rect().adjusted(-o, -o, o, o)

    def updateHandlesPos(self):
        """
        Update current resize handles according to the shape size and position.
        """
        s = self.handleSize
        b = self.boundingRect()
        self.handles[self.handleTopLeft] = QRectF(b.left(), b.top(), s, s)
        self.handles[self.handleTopMiddle] = QRectF(b.center().x() - s / 2, b.top(), s, s)
        self.handles[self.handleTopRight] = QRectF(b.right() - s, b.top(), s, s)
        self.handles[self.handleMiddleLeft] = QRectF(b.left(), b.center().y() - s / 2, s, s)
        self.handles[self.handleMiddleRight] = QRectF(b.right() - s, b.center().y() - s / 2, s, s)
        self.handles[self.handleBottomLeft] = QRectF(b.left(), b.bottom() - s, s, s)
        self.handles[self.handleBottomMiddle] = QRectF(b.center().x() - s / 2, b.bottom() - s, s, s)
        self.handles[self.handleBottomRight] = QRectF(b.right() - s, b.bottom() - s, s, s)

    def interactiveResize(self, mousePos):
        """
        Perform shape interactive resize.
        """
        offset = self.handleSize + self.handleSpace
        boundingRect = self.boundingRect()
        rect = self.rect()
        diff = QPointF(0, 0)

        self.prepareGeometryChange()

        if self.handleSelected == self.handleTopLeft:

            fromX = self.mousePressRect.left()
            fromY = self.mousePressRect.top()
            toX = fromX + mousePos.x() - self.mousePressPos.x()
            toY = fromY + mousePos.y() - self.mousePressPos.y()
            diff.setX(toX - fromX)
            diff.setY(toY - fromY)
            boundingRect.setLeft(toX)
            boundingRect.setTop(toY)
            rect.setLeft(boundingRect.left() + offset)
            rect.setTop(boundingRect.top() + offset)
            self.setRect(rect)

        elif self.handleSelected == self.handleTopMiddle:

            fromY = self.mousePressRect.top()
            toY = fromY + mousePos.y() - self.mousePressPos.y()
            diff.setY(toY - fromY)
            boundingRect.setTop(toY)
            rect.setTop(boundingRect.top() + offset)
            self.setRect(rect)

        elif self.handleSelected == self.handleTopRight:

            fromX = self.mousePressRect.right()
            fromY = self.mousePressRect.top()
            toX = fromX + mousePos.x() - self.mousePressPos.x()
            toY = fromY + mousePos.y() - self.mousePressPos.y()
            diff.setX(toX - fromX)
            diff.setY(toY - fromY)
            boundingRect.setRight(toX)
            boundingRect.setTop(toY)
            rect.setRight(boundingRect.right() - offset)
            rect.setTop(boundingRect.top() + offset)
            self.setRect(rect)

        elif self.handleSelected == self.handleMiddleLeft:

            fromX = self.mousePressRect.left()
            toX = fromX + mousePos.x() - self.mousePressPos.x()
            diff.setX(toX - fromX)
            boundingRect.setLeft(toX)
            rect.setLeft(boundingRect.left() + offset)
            self.setRect(rect)

        elif self.handleSelected == self.handleMiddleRight:
            print("MR")
            fromX = self.mousePressRect.right()
            toX = fromX + mousePos.x() - self.mousePressPos.x()
            diff.setX(toX - fromX)
            boundingRect.setRight(toX)
            rect.setRight(boundingRect.right() - offset)
            self.setRect(rect)

        elif self.handleSelected == self.handleBottomLeft:

            fromX = self.mousePressRect.left()
            fromY = self.mousePressRect.bottom()
            toX = fromX + mousePos.x() - self.mousePressPos.x()
            toY = fromY + mousePos.y() - self.mousePressPos.y()
            diff.setX(toX - fromX)
            diff.setY(toY - fromY)
            boundingRect.setLeft(toX)
            boundingRect.setBottom(toY)
            rect.setLeft(boundingRect.left() + offset)
            rect.setBottom(boundingRect.bottom() - offset)
            self.setRect(rect)

        elif self.handleSelected == self.handleBottomMiddle:

            fromY = self.mousePressRect.bottom()
            toY = fromY + mousePos.y() - self.mousePressPos.y()
            diff.setY(toY - fromY)
            boundingRect.setBottom(toY)
            rect.setBottom(boundingRect.bottom() - offset)
            self.setRect(rect)

        elif self.handleSelected == self.handleBottomRight:

            fromX = self.mousePressRect.right()
            fromY = self.mousePressRect.bottom()
            toX = fromX + mousePos.x() - self.mousePressPos.x()
            toY = fromY + mousePos.y() - self.mousePressPos.y()
            diff.setX(toX - fromX)
            diff.setY(toY - fromY)
            boundingRect.setRight(toX)
            boundingRect.setBottom(toY)
            rect.setRight(boundingRect.right() - offset)
            rect.setBottom(boundingRect.bottom() - offset)
            self.setRect(rect)

        self.updateHandlesPos()

    def shape(self):
        """
        Returns the shape of this item as a QPainterPath in local coordinates.
        """
        path = QPainterPath()
        path.addRect(self.rect())
        if self.isSelected():
            for shape in self.handles.values():
                path.addEllipse(shape)
        return path

    def paint(self, painter, option, widget=None):
        """
        Paint the node in the graphic view.
        """
        painter.setBrush(QBrush(QColor(255, 0, 0, 100)))
        painter.setPen(QPen(QColor(0, 0, 0), 1.0, Qt.SolidLine))
        painter.drawRect(self.rect())

        painter.setRenderHint(QPainter.Antialiasing)
        painter.setBrush(QBrush(QColor(255, 0, 0, 255)))
        painter.setPen(QPen(QColor(0, 0, 0, 255), 1.0, Qt.SolidLine, Qt.RoundCap, Qt.RoundJoin))
        for handle, rect in self.handles.items():
            if self.handleSelected is None or handle == self.handleSelected:
                painter.drawEllipse(rect)


def main():

    app = QApplication(sys.argv)

    grview = QGraphicsView()
    scene = QGraphicsScene()
    scene.setSceneRect(0, 0, 680, 459)

    scene.addPixmap(QPixmap('01.png'))
    grview.setScene(scene)

    item = GraphicsRectItem(0, 0, 300, 150)
    scene.addItem(item)

    grview.fitInView(scene.sceneRect(), Qt.KeepAspectRatio)
    grview.show()
    sys.exit(app.exec_())


if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()