Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Jean Skirt Shoulder Tote

I recently received an email asking if I could do a jean purse. I had some left over jean material from my shorts, so I said "of course!". She explained to me that she wanted the purse not to just be made out of jean material, but to be the top of a pair of children's jeans. That way you have the jean's pockets as...well, pockets. I thought the idea was so cool, but I have no where around here to purchase children's jeans. This wonderful lady sent me several pairs of children's jeans and skirts to use for bags. I finished hers yesterday LINK and I made this one out a a skirt today.

The idea is so cute, I had to share.

Here is the skirt that I used:


I measured the width and length of the part that I wanted to line and cut out the two pieces of material.



After sewing them together on 3 sides, I sewed the liner to the inside of the skirt just below the waist band (the material is not as thick here and easier to sew)
BTW: You will want to use a thicker needle with jean material. Make sure your machine is capable of handling thick material before you start this project, broken sewing machines can be expensive to repair.



When sewing the liner onto the skirt I stopped on either side of the front zipper. This section of the skirt has very thick material and a metal zipper. (don't want to snap any needles) I hand stitched this section.



The headband that I made today to keep my hair out of may face while sewing (isn't it cute).



Ok, so after attaching the liner I tacked the bottom of the skirt together in the middle. I did this so that it would not separate and show the underside of the lining. If you want to renforce the bottom of the bag better you can sew all the way across the bottom of the skirt.  



To make the handles I used leftover pant leg material from yesterdays project. I cut the seams out of the leg (leaving me with 2 flat pieces of fabric) then sewed those two pieces together (creating a long piece) and cut it down the middle lengthwise. Then I took each long strip and folded in half lengthwise, folding the edge in and sewing in place.



Once the straps were created I looped the front one through the belt loops and sewed back to itself.



Here is a view of the front handle attached. 



Then I attached the rear handle to the outside of the waistband. 



There ya have it:



I didn't add any bling to this one, but I'm sure it would look good.




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