Skirt to a Bag...Handmade Birthday

Our summer is kicking off with birthdays GALORE! So many parties and gifts to buy, including those for my own birthday girl at the end of the month. Whew! Lots of fun, but keeping up with gifts can be costly and stressful at times. I would like for a gift to be fun and useful, but it's hard to know what children want that they don't already have. 

Since all of our parties are for little girls about age 8, I often make purses and bags out of old jeans.  I am now getting a few requests from parents that are familiar with them. Apparently they are used and loved by the kiddos, and that's the best reward for those of us that love to create!

You can see a few of my previous upcycled denim creations here:

Little Girl Crossover Purse

Upcycled Drawstring Bag

Jeans Purse

American Girl Backpack 

Fun, right? So simple to make, and you get to upcycle old jeans at the same time!

  For an upcoming birthday, my daughter requested that I make a bag for her special friend.

 I found an outgrown denim skirt (kid sized) in my stash and and immediately pictured a crossover, larger bag...almost like a messenger bag.

Can you picture this skirt before I embellished it? In my excitement, I forgot to take a 'before' pic. :)

 It was super simple to make!

First I sewed the bottom of the skirt closed using a  matching thread. This didn't need to be cut off like a pair of shorts/jeans. I thought the original hem and little slits on the side looked more authentic, so I just stitched straight across to close up the bottom of the skirt.

I went through my fabric and came up with 2 coordinating patterns for the strap and cut them to 46". This is long for my daughter(who is of average height), but the recipient of the bag is EXTREMELY tall :), so we decided to add some length. (The 46" includes seam allowances.)  I adhered some fusible fleece between the two fabrics to make the strap more durable and a little padded.

I sewed the straps on opposite sides of the skirt waist, then added the flowers to embellish it a bit.

I found a "K" brad in my scrapbook stash, so the bag got a little personalized tweak at the last 

minute!

 This is a great size for a few books or art supplies, or just to carry miscellaneous on-the-go.

What do you think?

Never throw away old jeans and denim skirts. You never know what they can transform into!

Thanks for dropping in,

{Rag Quilt Teacher Gift Set}

I actually made this several months ago, and now plan to give it to my daughter's teacher for Christmas. I saw the fabric on clearance one afternoon and picked up some without knowing what I would use it for. This is a nice little carry-all bag, and I love the studious owls!

I cut all the squares for both the inside and outside of the bag with my Cuttlebug, using my Stampin' Up Scallop Square Die. I love the rag quilt look that it creates. You can check out some of my other scallop projects by looking under Scallop Square Die in my sidebar.

This is a very soft and squishy bag, but also boxey. I lined the bottom with 2 pieces of cereal box cardboard (adhered together), then made a matching sleeve to go over it. (If Vera Bradley can put cardboard in the base of her bags, so can I - hee, hee.) 

I added the little wallet/pouch much later. It's extremely simple and very handy. I have one myself that I don't use for money, but I keep it in my purse just to house my craft store coupons! (I was tired of fishing them out, and since I'm at the craft store A LOT, it really comes in handy. Can I get an amen?!)

The top just folds down...over your coupons. :)

Then I just recently added this little coffee cozy, after seeing the tutorial over at Skip to my Lou . It was VERY easy to follow, and it used up the remaining small pieces of owl fabric I had left over. I'm not sure my daughter's amazing teacher even drinks coffee, but it's too cute to not add in!

Cute, no? My "button" on the cozy is actually a cloth covered brad. It was the only thing I had lying around that matched! :)

So here's the final set....

We will probably add some scrapbooking supplies to the bag (she loves to scrapbook, just like I do!), and possibly a small gift card in the pouch. I hope she loves it!

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the web!

Made with Love Monday at Sew Chatty

Sew Cute Tuesday at Creative Itch

Making the World Cuter
 

{Bigger Bag...the one I actually DID need}

Hope you all had a fun and spooky Halloween! My kiddo was a bit down with a low-grade fever, but we managed just fine and she came home with oodles of goodies that will rot her teeth and her mind.  :) I'm sad to be taking down all of our spooky decor this next week, but I gotta...because hubby (who is National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation crazy about Christmas) will be taking over for the holidays in just a few short weeks.

In the meantime, I wanted to share a second jelly roll bag I made...and this one I actually DO need! Remember my first jelly rolly, and this cute purse I came up with? I really needed a bigger bag for all-day type functions...you know, when you need a little more than will go in a purse (my purse anyway), but not enough for a backpack?

Here's what I came up with, and it was perfect for our trip to the Zoo Boo last weekend. I {love} the colors and patterns in this jelly roll!

I added a snap, as well as pockets on both sides of the interior. I also used heavier weight interface to give it a little more durability.

The pockets on the left are divided, for cell phone and keys. The one on the right is a larger single pocket.

I'm so pleased with how it turned out.

Thanks for dropping in...I love hearing from you!

{My First Jelly Roll}

Sounds a little strange doesn't it? ;) 

I picked up my first jelly roll on super clearance at Joann's a couple of months ago, and it's been waiting patiently for me until this weekend. I loved the colors (turquoise and greens!) and it was $6.97 plus a coupon. I designed this bag and {love} how it turned out!

Do I need another purse? Of course not, but I tell you I am addicted to making bags! I'm not sure why exactly, but I love making them...whether they are my own design or using a tutorial/pattern. I actually changed my mind halfway through, so it turned out to be a little different shape than the original plan, but I'm happy with it nonetheless. You never know!

I'm calling it my Jelly Roll Bucket Bag, because when I look at it top-down, it really stands up like a bucket.

I added one larger pocket, as well as a snap.

I'm really proud of it! :)

It's all jelly roll strips except the lining and handle. I love the ease of not cutting the exterior panels!

I'm working on making a larger 'everything' kind of bag, because that I actually do need. We had a parade to attend a few weeks ago, as well as a festival the following week, and I realized that I don't have a larger bag that serves the carry-all purpose AND looks cute. I knew the jelly roll would come in handy to fix that problem. :)

Joann has a 20% off total purchase coupon this weekend, so I'm heading to Joann tomorrow to see if I can find some more clearance jelly rolls. I'm on a roll I'll tell you....haha...okay...not so funny. (Can you tell I'm getting tired?)

Thanks for stopping by!

{Little Girl Crossover Purse}

My daughter has masses of dress-up purses (my old ones), and lots of Princess and misc bags to play with. We actually could purge a few! But as she played the other day, I realized that when we go shopping with her money or gift cards, for some reason I'm still in charge of the currency. Not really intentionally, just out of habit.

At 7, it's about time she kept up with it a bit!

Enter: Mom...with a "little girl purse" idea.

I started measuring her. I knew I wanted it to go across the body so it didn't get lost in the excitement of Barnes & Noble or Build-a-Bear. (Anyone else have daughters?)

Here's what I came out with, using old jeans from my stash and misc scraps.

I had a 'first', and didn't put the straps inside the lining. Instead I finished the ends and sewed them in an "X" to each side, then added a button for looks.

Here's the skinny if you want to make your own!

Lining (2): 7 1/2" x 8"

Exterior (2): 7 1/2" x 8"

Straps: I cut her strap fabric to 2 1/2" by about 37", but measure your own kiddo for accuracy

Fusible fleece for the strap

Buttons, embellishments, Wonder Under, misc.

The body is made from jean pant legs, the straps are literally made of scraps, and the flower on the front I die-cut with my Cuttlebug and ironed on with Wonder Under. I think I boxed the corners at 1".

 My fave part is the strap. I've never made anything "scrappy" with fabric (not sure why), and I love how it turned out.

Perfect size for her cash, gifts cards, chapstick, and sunglasses!

Have a nice day!

{Upcycled Drawstring Bag & Tutorial}

I was recently inspired by this cute Pant Leg Bag over at Then She Made... . She's got such a creative blog! I saw it and put it on my to-do list, although I knew the original was not quite what I could use. So I tweaked it a bit for my needs and here's what I came up with this past rainy Sunday afternoon:

I haven't done many tutorials, so please let me know if there's any confusion or something I've just blatantly left out! I'm happy with how it turned out and best of all (again), it was FREE (!) using materials on hand and a pair of outgrown size 6X jeans. I hope you enjoy making it as much as I did! 

We are using this to keep Barbies under control when they're not in use. :)

You need:

1 pair of jeans (these were 6x)

thread, machine, pins, scissors, etc....your basic sewing stuff

1 length of grosgrain ribbon, a shoe string, or any other tie of your choice

1. Cut off the old jeans, just below the crotch.

 You can use the top part to make a little girl's Denim Purse on another day! :)

2. Cut alongside one of the fat denim seams on each leg, making each leg lay flat.

3. Pin right sides together and sew on three sides. It's up to you whether you put the thick hem at the top or bottom of your bag. I chose the bottom, but I made this on a whim. If I make another one, I'll put the hem at the TOP, so I can sew it down and not have to worry about raveling. Live and learn! :) Don't sew all the way up on each side. Leave about 2" open.

4. Box the corners. I'm not too great at explaining this, but you can google it and find great explanations all day. I'll give it a go...Measure 2" from the side and bottom of each corner, making a 2" box. Then cut these box corners out and throw them away. This will give your bag about a 2" base.

 5. Stitch the boxed corners closed. Pull the corner apart and flatten it, then sew it down. I snipped some of my thick denim hem off to make it easier.

(Don't you love the ab-roller in the background?)

6. Clear as mud? Okay, if so, you should now have the beginnings of a bag!

6. I edged the top of my bag with shears. If you go with the thick denim hem at the top, you can skip this step. Still living and learning here.

7. Turn your bag wrong side out again and fold the top down about 1"-1.5". This will be the casing for your ribbon drawstring.

8. Sew a small hem all the way around EXCEPT for the casing side where the thick denim hem is. This is the opening where you will loop the ribbon through.

9. When your casing is finished (this is the slip for the drawstring), attach a large safety pin to your length of ribbon to help feed it through the opening. Just keep pulling.

10. When it's all the way through, I took a needle and thread and put in a few stitches to secure the ends of the thick denim opening for the ribbon. They were running free and flappy right at the end.

 11. Now you have a finished bag!

 Yep...mine even has a little knee-worn hole that's already starting. I couldn't stop there of course, so I die cut a few felt embellishments and hand sewed them on. I strategically placed one over the start of my knee-worn hole. Aren't I nifty?

And voila! A little home for Barbies that aren't in use, or to take Barbie and friends to Grandma's for a sleepover.

Again...if something doesn't make sense, PLEASE email or leave a comment so I can clarify for you.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

{"Out-To-Eat Bag" for Kiddos}

One rainy day last year I whipped up this notebook-sized bag for my daughter out of the cutest Fancy Nancy fabric I had leftover from another project. We go out to eat frequently on the weekends, and we had commented countless times (AFTER we got there of course!), that we should have brought a long crayons, paper, etc. So this bag was intentionally designated as our "Out to Eat" bag, and it has successfully been just that for about a year.

 It's a little ratty at this point (should have made wider, stronger handles), and it COULD be a little larger, and it needs a place for pencils, which were always lost in the bottom. My daughter is also addicted to dogs, so she wanted something with puppies on it. I made this updated version this afternoon. It's a tad too tall, but it will be a great bag for other things if need be. Typically she takes Color Wonder markers, crayons, a coloring book or two, and a notepad out to dinner.  We could get a lot more than that in here, but that just means it will be versatile! :) (You know those looooooond doctor waiting rooms?) Mine is an only, which means she can play for hours all by herself, using a few toys and her imagination. Throw a few Schleich animals in here with some Polly Pockets and she can occupy herself in any waiting room! :)

Isn't it adorable? Like I said, it's

 a touch too tall, but still fine. I would shorten it another 2" if I could do it again.
I started with these measurements:

21" x 17" for the body

26" x 3" for the handles

10" x 7" for the interior pocket/pencil holders

fusible fleece for the body and handles

What I learned...IDEAL measurements might me  19" x 16"-ish

The crayon roll is from a super easy tutorial you can find over at Skip to My Lou . I've made a few of them and they are so simple and REALLY super handy for anything where you're on the go! I used the same fabric for the crayon roll, along with some chocolatey grosgrain ribbon from Stampin' Up. (LOVE that ribbon!)

I tried a marker roll once (for the fat Color Wonder markers, which is all we have), but it was just too fat and I trashed it. So we use a zipper bag for those.  Those crayon rolls are perfect for travel...the crayons stay in one place and it's easy to see what color you're looking for.

I think this is so cute and girly, and now it's not a tight fit for coloring books and notepads. Plenty of breathing room in this one, which is what you need while out to dinner. When the food comes, just throw it all back in!

Have a great day!

I'm linking up to these fun parties!