Perhaps you read last week about my trashed (store-bought) Tote bag and the start of my journey to replace it? If you missed it, you can read Part I here!
I’ve been busy this week, learned a lot, and ended up with a great Tote bag – despite the “help” offered to me by My Feline Family Members!
I finished off my lining by measuring and sewing in the corners.
I think I’ve already mentioned that I need to replace my Tote bag. The vinyl is cracking at the corners and on the straps. I have decided to strip what zippers and buckles I can from this one to ensure no waste … but the rest of it is too worn.
My family, friends and co-workers have heard that I like working with repurposed denim and other repurposed fabrics to make my bags. They all kindly gift me with fabric and notions they find! For this Tote bag I will be using an almost never worn pair of jeans that a co-worker has given me. They are large so I have lots of fabric to work with! (Thank you, Linda R!) Continue reading
And I’m certainly not one to waste recycled denim! So let’s make another bag. This one is not quite big enough to hold my iPad, not like the last one I made. This one seemed to go together quicker too! Perhaps it wasn’t as “fancy” or perhaps I’m actually getting used to throwing them together?!?
Again, I started by sewing my strips together, pressing them, ironing on the fusible interfacing, and trimming the two outer bag walls to the right size.
Back again! To recap last week’s post … I wanted to make myself a 100% recycled denim bag, using denim strips like those bags I saw on Pinterest. Last week I cut up my denim jeans, pieced and sewed the strips together and fused on the interfacing for my outer bag walls. I sewed the pockets and the zipper pocket on my bag lining. I sewed the bag strap. I did my topstitching – I love topstitching and Amber, my Singer 421G was a work horse!
This week, I continued on. I prepped the opening zipper, cutting it to the right length and topstitching the zipper tabs on the ends. I switched from the brown zipper to this blue one as it fit around my iPad just right.
I was trying to think of an eye-catching, mysterious title for my blog post. I couldn’t. I have too been immersed in bag making lately – sewing creatively, instead of blogging creatively!
The only other handbags I’ve made I posted about here and here. I made one of them for my sister – she’s seems to be happy with it. I made her’s by copying something she already had.
This time I wanted to make a handbag for myself out of 100% recycled materials, specifically denim. I have been collecting a few images on my Pinterest and I’m quite inspired by this recycled denim Chobe Bag with the denim strips sewn together.
A friend has asked if I can make her a Boho/peasant skirt similar to one she owns already. No problem, happy to assist… it just might cost you a few “mike’s Hard Black Cherry Lemonade” beverages though!
C.P. (let’s call her that) has done her research and came equipped with instructions she has found on the internet and a large piece of paisley (I love paisley!) and two large pieces of denim fabric. Both fabrics had a similar feel of a medium weight denim so they would drape together well. The instructions that C.P. had found on the internet gave you a wonderful little “tier calculator” to predetermine the correct length and width of each tier. All you had to do was enter in the widest measurement on your lower body (waist, hip, whatever), press calculate and all the math was done for you. The free pattern and tier calculator is here if you are interested.
I’m am going to start off by apologizing… this post just might be photo-heavy, but don’t worry that won’t strop me from talking too much!
I am so happy! I have finished my denim skirt – finally! It has been a slow process, but for the most part, enjoyable. I loved all the different techniques involved and I was pleased that I could turn my favourite pattern, a Sewaholic Hollyburn, into a denim skirt. If you missed some of the posts, I worked on sewing and topstitching the back pockets and the flat felled seams here; I sewed the fly front, front pockets, faux flat felled seams and belt loops here; and I pretty much spent this whole post here agonizing over whether to sew on my back pockets or not!
But before I get all bent out of shape over the back pockets again, let me show you one of my favourite sewing tools – The Hammer. Perfect for attaching jeans buttons and rivets and letting go of all that stress bottled up inside you! Continue reading
Alas, I am still working on my Sewaholic Hollyburn to Denim Skirt makeover. I have been pinning/unpining and trying on/taking off and puzzling over/avoiding my skirt for the last three days now, trying to decide what to do. Has there ever been so much indecision in my life!? (I hope not! I hope there is only indecision with minor details such as this one!)
I am very happy with my denim skirt, so far!
I have made my denim skirt with what feels like a 100% light weight cotton. I would like to call it a chambray, unfortunately it was unlabelled, inexpensive and I bought a large amount of it not having any proof as to its content or description. It is light weight though, therefore it would be nice if it was an A line shape (my favourite) and/or gathered would be nice too (I have gathered the back of this skirt already).
I love the topstitching I have done – front and back pockets, seams, waistband, hemming. I love the rivets and jeans button. I would change none of it. (If you missed any of the steps you can see the previous posts here and here.)
Now here is my dilemma – help me out here. Continue reading
Hello all, me again. I’ve had a couple of “distractions” over the last week therefore I haven’t quite finished my denim skirt, but I thought I would show you what I have accomplished so far – and perhaps this week you might even get a laugh out of it!
I started my denim skirt by cutting out a Sewaholic Hollyburn skirt pattern here and making my back pockets, and doing my topstitching and flat felled seams here.
Now it is time to sew my jeans fly front. My one side is interfaced, double fold bias tape is sewn on the rough edge and the piece is sewn on to my left side front (if I am looking at the skirt). The interfacing will never show as this piece is folded over to the inside.
from my Sewaholic Hollyburn skirt pattern. I cut this pattern out last week from some 100% pre-washed cotton I found in my stash. I still have a good metre or so left so I’ll have to think of another project for it. Do any of you have a favourite tank top pattern that could use the remainder of my 100% cotton denim?
Since this is the fourth time I have cut out a Sewaholic Hollyburn, I think it is definitely one of my TNT patterns.
My skirt is coming together well. The thought of topstitching and revits and Jeans buttons makes me SMILE!
I started this skirt by making my interfaced back pockets. I just cut a large rectangle shape, as the Hollyburn didn’t have a pattern piece for this. I precisely measured for my angled corners. I marked the centre point of the bottom with my Chaco liner and I measured two inches up on each side and made marks there too.
