Skirt Bag

Years ago, I had some wool skirts that didn’t fit me too well, but I liked the fabric so I ripped them up thinking that I would use the fabric someday. That day finally came. I decided I needed a new tote bag since my old one was raggedy and gross, and thought this was a good opportunity to use up that wool fabric.

I had three fabrics from wool skirts to use, a black, a dark gray and a red. I ironed them and measured them to see how much fabric was available to me and sketched out a design for the bag.

I realized that I didn’t have quite enough fabric from my repurposed skirts. So I decided to use some vintage wool fabric my grandmother gave me. The checkered red, gray and cream fabric matched well with my color palette. The one problem was that the fabric had quite a few moth holes, so I had to position my cut outs just right. I barely had enough fabric.

After I had sewn the fabric panels together, I saw that one of the black fabric blocks had a moth hole smack dab in the middle. This was unfortunate as I had already cut the fabric and didn’t have enough to replace the damaged piece. So first I used some thread to sew over the hole, hoping to patch it enough that it wouldn’t expand. Sadly, this looked like a pimple breaking out on a forehead. I didn’t like the way it looked and wanted to cover it up.

So I decided to put a pocket on top of it. Ideally, I wouldn’t have to do this because I wanted the bag to be simple. And quite frankly, I dislike useless pockets. And I’m never using this pocket…for anything. However, it fulfilled its purpose of covering my moth hole. [Sigh.]

The red fabric in the handle wasn’t initially part of my design. However, the black strips of fabric for the handle seemed short to me, and as I didn’t have any more black fabric, I could only use what I had left, which was the red.

When I pinned the straps to the bag, the thickness of the fabric concerned me. I didn’t think my sewing machine would handle it well, so I decided to hand sew it. Unfortunately, my hand sewing skills aren’t very pretty. I used embroidery floss to help cover my poor stitching.

The bag is reversible. At first, I thought I wanted the black and gray side to be on the outside of the bag, but I soon realized that I preferred the red side more. The bag is a bit larger than I anticipated, but it fits everything I need.

DIY: Button Bag

 
My mom wanted me to sew her a bag for Christmas. I initially did some sketches of bags and picked one that I thought would be simple to sew. I used some fabric I had on hand to sew a draft of the bag. I got about halfway through…and I didn’t like it. So I simplified the design and tried again—this bag I finished and liked.

With my draft finished, I cut and sewed my mom’s bag. The flap can be buttoned in the front or back of the bag. I wanted some versatility, where the flap could be used to help close the bag, or buttoned in the back to make it more open. In addition, since two fabrics are used, buttoning the flap to the back of the bag allows for a different look, with the interior fabric showing.

This is what I did.

—1—
Cut out two sets of pieces, one fabric for the exterior and one fabric for the interior of the bag.

—2—
With right sides together, sew the two strap pieces together. Trim the seams. And turn the strap right side out. Press and topstitch.

—3—
With right sides together, sew the front and back pieces of one fabric together. Trim the seams and corners. And repeat this with the second set of fabric.

—4—
With right sides together, put one bag inside of the other bag and sew the flap pieces together. Trim the seams and corners.

Note: The two sides need to be kept open to turn the bag right side out and to add the strap.

—5—
Turn bag right side out. Try to get the corners as square as possible. Press bag.

—6—
Put a strap end in about 2.5 inch deep into the openings on each side. Sew the strap to the bag. (Sew a square with an X in the middle to help add stability.)

—7—
Sew the openings for the strap down.

—8—
Press and topstitch the bag.

—9—
Mark the position for the buttonhole on the flap. Sew buttonhole. Sew one button on the front side and one button on the backside. Button Bag complete.

Things I Didn’t Buy 29

I liked this Sunkist juicer—so simple and clean.

These casserole dishes were cute.

And I liked these mixing bowls.

I almost bought this Osterizer glass jar. I liked the art on the top, but decided I didn’t really need another jar.

And finally, I also liked this bowling bag.

Wedding Bag

Many women tend to accumulate accessories over time, like shoes, jewelry and bags; these items are an easy way to change the look of an outfit (and they generally still “fit” whether you gain or lose any weight). And while I admit to buying more shoes and jewelry then I need, I don’t end up buying bags because I’m lazy. I use the same bag everyday because it would be too much of a hassle to move all the junk I have in one bag to another.

However, I didn’t really want to carry my large everyday bag to a wedding I was attending, so I thought I could buy a smaller bag that would be more appropriate. Truthfully, I didn’t dedicate myself to finding one, but merely checked out bags when I happened to be at a store. I wanted to get one at a thrift shop because it would be cheaper and I didn’t want to spend much for a bag I wouldn’t get much use out of. Unfortunately, I didn’t find one I wanted.

Then I looked at some other stores with new bags, but I didn’t see anything that I liked. Most of the bags were the wrong size, the wrong color, the wrong material, the wrong design…or just plain wrong. And really, I didn’t even want to spend $20 on a cheap bag that wasn’t particularly cute and that I would just get rid of after I used it. I thought that if I was going to carry a cheap bag, I might as well just make one myself (and at least get some sewing practice in while I was at it).

I made a very simple purse with the materials I happened to already have. It’s not a terribly large bag, about nine inches wide and five inches high. The flap folds over the top of the bag and tucks under a front band of fabric. I created two tabs on either side of the bag and connected a chain (I had bought from the jewelry section of a craft store) to each tab. I chose a very light blue fabric with thin satin stripes on it. From a distance, the fabric just looks like an icy blue (which matched well with the navy I was wearing). The fabric wasn’t stiff enough on its own, so I put a piece of cardstock inside the bag and that helped to maintain a more rectangular shape. Will I use this bag again? Probably not, but it’s served its purpose.

Trash or Trash to Become Treasure

I have a bad habit of collecting stuff. I’m not talking about having a stamp collection or a rock collection, I’m talking about the collection of random items that I think I may be able to use in some way. The realist in me realizes that I don’t have space for the stuff I have let alone the stuff I end up collecting, but I can’t seem to help myself. I like the potential of usefulness, so I’ll keep the oddly shaped glass spice jar or the interestingly constructed chocolate box or whatever other items I think could repurpose in some way.

That’s how I ended up with this large mail bag; a coworker asked if I wanted one of these bags that had been sent to the office and I immediately said yes. I liked the black and white design that was very simple and bold, and of course I liked the crown (I mean how much more British can we get?). I thought the bag was interesting and in the back of my mind I thought I could make it into something.

So without a plan I took it home, and it’s just sat in a corner ever since—waiting to be used. I’ve been fairly lazy and haven’t gotten around to doing anything with it yet (that includes the good wash it needs to get the worst of the grime off). [Sigh.] Yet I’ll have to think of something, otherwise my trash with potential may just end up in the trash—and that’s something I’d like to avoid because I just know there’s some way to repurpose this bag to my liking. [Pause.] I just need to figure out the how.

Knitted Envelope Bag

Not long ago I started knitting a scarf using a knit and purl pattern that created a sort of textured rib. It wasn’t a particularly difficult pattern, but I got about 5 inches deep into the scarf and realized that I wasn’t feeling it; the pattern was fine, but I didn’t love it enough to finish it. So I bound it off and was left with a rectangle of about 5½ inches by 7½ inches (which then sat around purposelessly for some time).

Put a Bow on It

Around Christmas time, a friend of mine drew a bow on a gift’s wrapping paper. I thought it was a cute idea, so I decided to make a bow stamp.