Project Challenge#2 Thrifted Skirt turned Handbag

I know February is the short month of the year, but did it blow by in a blink of an eye or what?  I hope, as it heads on out, it takes this bitter cold with it.  And the snow.  The snow can go anytime now.  To be replaced with green grass.  Please.  If I ask nice maybe it will happen.

It’s time for Project Challenge #2!  Remember last month?  I told you I was joining up with some other great bloggers in a monthly project challenge.  Each month the project is made with a different item.  This month the category is

$5 or less thrifted, craigslist, or roadside find.

Now I had a cool project that I have been wanting to do for awhile, and this seemed the perfect opportunity.  But I needed to use some of my hubby’s tools, and I needed his help, and we needed to use the garage.  The garage is not heated, the weather did not cooperate, and the project didn’t happen.

So I pulled something else together this week and voila!

Mission accomplished, project done, deadline met 😀

Meet the thrifted skirt turned handbag 🙂

In its first life it was a cute, twirly skirt, with a cute underskirt lining it, a bit of red ruffle peeking through now and then.  Rows of large tucks added fun detail and the red band at the top gave it that extra pop of color that put it over-the-top.

One of the leftovers not picked up from our multi-family garage sale last Spring, I just couldn’t put it in the discard pile when we were cleaning up.  I loved the fabric and the print and decided to add it to my project pile.  I sort of hoped one of my girls would like it well enough to wear it but they turned up their noses.

So I turned up my nose at them and used it as my ‘thrifted’ find to create this months project. 

The first thing I did was take out the stitching that held the skirt’s tag in place.
There was a zipper to work around, so I cut it out and cut the seam below the zipper open all the way down.  I also cut the underskirt lining out.  I had thought I might use it as part of the handbag too, but changed my mind and cut it out.  I saved it – I may use it to create something else.

Next I measured the length of the skirt and the width across the red band.  The printed fabric is gathered and really full.  I didn’t want the bag that big and decided to keep it the width of the red band.

A piece of cotton canvas was cut to the dimensions of the skirt.

The red band was lined with the same red fabric and I left that, only cutting off the white lining of the underskirt.  Right sides together, I stitched my canvas piece to the red lining of the skirt band.  After sewing, the inside of the skirt/bag looked like the photo at the top right and bottom left.

Bottom center photo shows how the skirt is full and the canvas is a rectangle.  Bottom right – I pulled all the gathers of the skirt into straight lines so it fit on the canvas piece.

The skirt was pinned in place ont0 the canvas and stitched.  I stitched just under the red band and across the top pleat and the bottom pleat.  The rest was left loose to fluff and ruffle as it wanted.

 With wrong sides together I stitched across the bottom of the canvas only – I made sure to keep the ruffle of the skirt/bag out of the seam.  After sewing I serged the raw edge of the seam close to the stitching.  When finished the ruffle covered the canvas.

Now the handbag just had one side not sewn – it had been folded it in half to sew the bottom seam so the one side seam was the fold- now I needed an actual seam on the other side to finish it.  With wrong sides together, I stitched down the side.  It wasn’t completely even so I made the seam as straight as I could and actually took it in a bit at the top to make it look like I wanted it to.  After sewing the seam I serged off all the ragged, jagged edges, and turned it right side out.  Now it just needed some handles.

For the handles I pulled out some vintage chenille fabric – also a thrift find from last Spring.

I cut two strips to get the length I wanted the handle to be – I decided to make the handle long enough to wear it as a cross-over bag.

The two long pieces were stitched together (right sides together) and the seam pressed open.  The long edges got a 1/4 inch hem pressed in and then the handle was pressed in half and stitched along the folded edges creating the handle.

I like to make sure my handles are going to be in the right place when I am finished stitching them to the bag, so I pinned them where I thought they should go and then ‘tested’ the bag to see how it hung. 

Hanging it up to see how the bag hangs from the handle is a good idea.  This one was perfect the first time.  If it wasn’t I would adjust till I liked how it hung.  Also, this bag dimensions allowed it to work well with only one handle instead of two.

 With the handle upside down I stitched it where I had it pinned.  Then I flipped the handle right side up and stitched it again, both at the bottom fold and at the top of the bag.

And then I added a ‘Sew a Fine Seam’ tag 😀

The skirt turned handbag works great as a cross-body bag.  Great for shopping – it leaves your hands free and is large enough to tuck small purchases inside too.

The print is so pretty, I think it turned out rather cute if I do say so myself.  And it only took about an hour start to finish – including the photo shoot!

After finishing the bag I decided it just might be the perfect size for a book bag.

And sure enough several books will fit perfectly. Make sure you head over to see the other projects my fellow bloggers came up with for this month!

Fern Creek Cottage you gotta see the ‘after’ of this!

Beyond the Picket Fence upcycled candlesticks – the after looks very high end!

Shelstring wood mallets – you simply MUST go see what she created with these!

And make sure you come back next month!  Last Friday of the month and next month’s challenge is to use linen or leather in some way.  OOOHH but I’m excited about that one 🙂 I may just try to incorporate both of those textiles into on project!

Jill