Upcycling / Recycling / Repurposing Inspiration

It's not a secret...fabric is NOT cheap.  It averages around $8.00/yard for good quilting cotton, and more for specialty types.  It can be discouraging...but there is a way around it....

Take a look around your house, or take a trip to thrift store.  There are loads and loads of awesome threads to be found!

Today I want to share a couple of my most recent upcycles - maybe it will inspire you to thing outside the box when it comes to your sewing.

The Little Denim Bag

How cute is this?  I can't tell you how easy this was to make.  I simply cut the leg bottom off of a pair of jeans.  The bottom seam became the finished opening of the bag (less sewing folks!). 

 I used some scrap fabric I had lying around for the interior and slip pocket.  

And finished up by cutting another piece of the leg for the strap, and adding some leather strips to give it some personality...leather and denim work so well together!

Since I used an old pair of jeans that was going to get tossed, and scrap fabric this bag only cost me the price of the leather, rivets and buckle.

Next up....

It's Not A Sham..."Anymore"...Bags

I found a pair of quilted pillow shams at Marshalls on clearance for under $20.00.  I know what you are thinking....$20 is not so cheap...and yes, you are right, but when you consider the fact that these shams were quilted, and had coordinating fabric on the back of them - I think I did alright....Check it out...

I was able to make almost TWO complete, awesome bags from them.  I made one cute shoulder bag and one roomy tote.

Let's take a look at the handbag.  A simple design, but oh so adorable because of the fun pattern AND it's quilted!  Do you know how long it would have taken me to quilt fabric myself?  

For the interior, I used the backside of the pillow sham.  A perfectly coordinated duo!

And onto the tote....

I love this tote!  For this bag, I simply used the entire sham, folded it in half and sewed down the sides and boxed out the corners.

For the interior, I didn't have enough of the backing, so I opted for some red quilting cotton I had lying around.  I added a zip pocket....

And finished it off with a large wooden button and some leather straps for handles.

LOVE!

So, considering that similar Vera Bradley bags cost upwards of $75 and don't have leather handles, I'd say this was money well spent!

The cool thing about upcycling or repurposing is that you end up creating one of a kind items.  I can pretty much guarantee NOBODY will have an identical bag....and even better...there is less trash going into our landfills.

I hope I've given you some inspiration to find a second life for the fabrics around you!