More Bags Galore

Can you believe I made all these bags this weekend? (It's only nine, not 10. The one in the middle is the same bag, just reversible.) And yes, I did leave the house a couple of times! My neighbors must be tired of hearing the hum of my sewing machine. These are all made with the upholstery samples, with the occasional thrift store lining thrown in, and I still have a ton left. I'm calling it my bottomless bag of fabric!

Upcycling With People

I hope you're sitting down. This may come as a shock. In honor of Earth Day this year, I decided to ... wait for it ... SEW SOME PURSES. Boy, that came out of nowhere didn't it? Ha ha.

Anyway, a longtime fan of reuse (in theory), I now have the sewing skills to (actually) repurpose tons of stuff. Since I started sewing I've been a regular at Thrift Town, where I am always sure to find bags of fabric for around $2 that hold untold treasures. And the East Bay Center for Creative Reuse is my other mecca, and thankfully closer to my home. There I get fabric and tons of notions, and the last time I was there I got a boatload of zippers for 20 cents each. You know how excited I get about zippers!

Then last week at the Martinez SWAN Day I met a woman who calls herself the Dumpster Diversion Diva and I traded her one of my bags for a bunch of fabric samples she'd collected from an interior designer who was going to throw these gems away!

So this weekend I made a bunch of stuff from that fabric, including my favorites: The three rope bags in navy blue, brown and red/white. The crossbody was pieced together from some smaller samples (strap included) and the larger tote was a sample that I put a grey bottom on from some scraps I had around.

On the left is a patchwork beauty from some thrift store pieces. All in all, a productive weekend of upcyling.

Happy Earth Day everyone!