Fab Fabric Upcycling

Well it was a rotten wet day yesterday. The Free Festival in Colchester that I chickened out of going to because of the weather seems to have been a success. So I spent the day sewing.

An upcycled bag made from denim jeans, vintage table cloth, woven silk remnants and inside a 1950's woven table cloth.

Stamp onto the vintage table linen, iron after 5 minutes to heat set. Stazon will fade when washed at 30c. But you are not going to wash a bag very often!

Cardboard templates for squares. Make yours to suit the fabric or size of item you want to make.

 

Cut out the denim or other base fabric

 

Arrange stamped fabric on the denim. Then whizz away on your sewing machine. Have fun trying out all those stitches you never use or do some free motion embroidery.

Looks fab! Here I have added a band of striped woven silk and embroidered on that too.

A 1960's inspired patch. Here I have satin stitched around the edge and cut the excess fabric away.

Do you love the wee ducks?

Same stamps different embroidery.

All the squares joined using the woven silk fabric. I've added some orange top stitching as reminder of the jeans.

Inside the jeans pockets were just right for keys or a mobile. Straps are made from the denim jeans and the woven silk. I made the straps long enough to fit comfortably over your shoulder, but short enough so the bag does not drag on the floor.

Some doilies got added as the colour was a good match.

The finished bag. I used medium weight iron on interfacing on the lining. This has made the bag really strong.

Ideal for tins and bottles on your supermarket shop or heavy books if you are at college.

 Lots of info on line on how to make the bag and so on. Hope you get some good ideas from this mini tutorial.

Molly and I have been having some adventures. We got separated on a walk over an unfamiliar field. We both arrived home exhausted. She had gone to the neighbours to tell them I was lost! Then yesterday Molly started digging up the carpet near the front door. A bird had died and was wedged under the door edge outside. She is not impressed with my sniffing ability.

Now its sunny so off I go to mow the lawn which looks like a meadow.