Tote Bag Refashion w/ $.50 Thrift Store Tote

 

I wanted to share this refashion I made of a $.50 tote bag found at a thrift store near my house. This is such a simple project, perfect for teens and newbies and this gal is a sewing newbie which brings me to  a little disclosure:

Do your sewing projects take you days when it should only take hours? Do you often find yourself cursing and then praying all in the same breath while doing your sewing projects? Do you break out into nose bleeds when you are so stressed your project isn’t working? Well that is me and that is why you will never find a sewing tutorial on this blog, ha! I leave that to the experts! I am simply showing you how I was able to take a cheap tote and make it into something perty. Okay, on with the post!!

I found that Laughlin bag at a thrift store and decided to upcycle it into something better. I mean sure, Laughlin is fun and all but I had to glam it up.

First thing I did,  print out a flag pattern courtesy of ImakeStuff.Typepad.com: http://imakestuff.typepad.com/i-make-stuff/2010/09/birthday-banner.html. I then took 3 separate pieces of fabric (you really don’t need much, remnants of fabric you already have will do, be sure to wash first, cut, then press) and cut out 3 of the banner flags.

I then took 1.5  inch wide ribbon and measured it out against the width of the bag. I doubled the size because as you can see, I pinned it for ruffles.

After cutting and measuring ribbons and fabric, I went ahead and laid everything out on the bag so I can see where everything should be placed.  Before sewing though, I  cut the inside seam down one side of the bag to make it easier for me to sew everything on.

After measuring and cutting, I took two strips of ribbon, the width of the bag and hot glued them on in different places (ya, I cheat but you can’t really tell).

Finally, I sewed the flags on and did the ruffled ribbon with just one seam down the middle. I then sewed up the side and embellished with a rosette or two (which I FINALLY learned how to make, thanks you tube).

Okay, that’s it! Simple, right! I’ll be sporting this at Snap The Conference!