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,

{Fave Shirt Turned Pillow}

A great way to make a cute tee last...turn it into a pillow!

My daughter occasionally has a tee that she is bummed about growing out of because it has a cute animal picture or applique on it. We salvaged this one ( a $5 tee from Target), and will now use it as a decorative Valentine pillow on her bed...next year. :) She's in love with puppies, cats, and horses, so when I told her this shirt had lived its life, she immediately said, "Mommy make a pillow out of it!" We share a brain.

Here's the tee before we cut it apart:

And after...a cute little pillow to add to our Valentine deco box.

Plus it's super snuggly! It will be a nice little surprise when we open our V-Day box next year.

You could do this with any tee that has a cool logo, applique, or pic on it.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Market Yourself Monday-Sumo's Sweet Stuff