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| The original skirt |
My daughter was looking for a new bag for college and just couldn't find what she wanted - so she decided we could make one! As usual, this was a one-off project without a pattern and only a vague plan. Having browsed tinternet she decided she liked the idea of using recycled material. So we bought a large tartan skirt at a charity shop for all of 50p and found a pair of old jeans at home.
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| Turned inside, cut to size and pinned ready for stitching up |
As the skirt already had a lining, the general idea (for this easy project) was to cut off the top of the skirt and its waistband to make the top of the bag. This seemed like a good idea but the skirt was actually wider than we needed - so that needed adjusting - and later it was super difficult to then make the bottom of the lining and bag.
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| Jeans pocket in place |
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| Denim decoration |
Before the super difficult part I used the jeans pocket for an outside pocket and a strip of denim for decoration.
So to the super hard bit. My daughter wanted a curved look to the bag so I first cut a long oblong piece of both denim and matching lining (I had some leftover from the bottom of the skirt). Somehow I managed to to gather the tartan and stitch to the denim oblong. Repeated with the lining. This was particularly tricky as the lining was already attached to the skirt and I was working from a pattern. No nice 'how to guides' as just a lot of fiddling involved.
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| Jeans leg cut and stitched closed at ends |
Anyway now to a clever bit! I used the leg of a pair of jeans to make both a flap over finish and an inside zip-up pocket at the same time.
I inserted a zip onto the reverse of the jeans leg. This will turn the jeans into an inside pocket.
I then firmly stitched the jeans leg to the back waistband of the bag.
The strap was also recycled from another charity shop bag we bought for 50p, and stitched on with some more leftover denim.
Ta-dah!!!!!!!!
Handily, the skirt's side zip is at the side of the bag and so it can be opened to create a little more space in the bag. As I say, I'm not known for following patterns, so it was simply a case of cut and sew and see how it turns out. The finish at the bottom is not great - it was hard to make the lining and tartan match and it was tricky fixing in a piece of card to make it sturdier.
Admittedly in terms of time taken it's probably easier and quicker to get the material and cut from a pattern. However, my daughter now has an individual bag she loves - so much so she doesn't want to waste it on college! Aarggh!
