Thursday, October 6

Day 6 - It's All Fabric to Me

Today we'll be finding potential to make pretty things for ourselves (instead of for our homes). Let's go!


This story starts with a trip to the thrift store. I was checking out the curtains/tablecloths/blankets section when I found a big brown duvet cover. It was cheap, too, so I pulled it out, gave it a good wash, and put it in my closet for a rainy day....

I'm the kind of girl who loves a good bag. I also like to sew, which means I've sewn quite a few bags in my time. I pinned this super cute bag called The Grandview Bag on my pinterest a while back and decided it was time to give it a try.


 But, as is my custom, I wanted to find the cheapest way to make it. So I went hunting in my closet and found that duvet cover I mentioned before. It would make a nice solid color for the outside and I had some scraps from pillow cases left over to use for the lining. 


I didn't have brown thread, so I used a light green that went with the lining. 


I followed the tutorial to make the bag and ended up with this:



My proportions turned out way different than I expected (based on the original picture) so I'm not sure what happened. I probably did something wrong, but I'm not sure where. For one thing I didn't expect it to be a cross-body bag. 


And it's also bigger than I expected, but it works for the cross-body style it ended up being. Or maybe I made my ruffles too small so the bag looks too big? Anyway, I'm happy with how it turned out even though it's different than I expected.




 And the big size is very handy for this mommy to carry everything I need, while still being super cute!


 Want to know what all I fit in there? My phone, wallet, a book, a cloth diaper, a toy for Baby B, and under all that is my sweater. And there is room to spare! I put one small pocket inside and a magnetic snap to keep the bag closed.


Project Cost Breakdown:
$4.00 - duvet cover (but I have tons left for other projects!)
$0 - lining (left over from my pillow cases)
$0 - thread (already had it)
$0.50 - magnetic snap (I bought them in bulk a while back on ebay)
Total: $4.50



And, because he's so doggone cute, here is Baby B enjoying the chair after my photo shoot. He loved standing up in there with something to hold on to.



The moral of this story is that ANYTHING that is made of fabric can be cut up and used as...fabric! Look through your closet, check the thrift store, check yard sales. There are so many fabric goods with the potential to become something great (and super cute) for you to use!

Now over to you. What unconventional fabric have you used before? What did you make? Want to make your own Grandview Bag? See Part 1 of the tutorial here, and Part 2 here.

6 comments:

  1. I adore the picture of Baby B! the purse is cute too!

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  2. Absolutely beautiful. YOu are so talented and with an awesome $4.50 handbag of style to boot!!!

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  3. Love the bag! I also like the way you used the the old chair for baby B to stand up outside :)

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  4. Thanks! I'm pretty crazy about Baby B, too. And bags. So yeah, this was a good day for me. :)

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  5. Ahh! I'm loving this series! I just started sewing, but I'm anxious to learn how to make bags and other fun things. Thanks for this terrific project!

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    1. I'm glad you're enjoying it! And happy sewing! :)

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