New From Old

I've sewn for a long time, and back when I was a teenager (read: cash-strapped), I would often remake one item of clothing into another. This was especially important if I loved the fabric, but hated the rest of it. The item that stands out was a pair of cropped pants that I made from the skirt of a jumper that was too tight in the bodice. The bodice itself was later remade into a hat. There's something really satisfying about taking something you love and making it into something you love even more.

The leather tote I made the other day is one case in point. I loved the skirt, but never wore it, and now that it's a bag, I've used it everyday this week.

Along the same lines as the leather tote, I just finished a suede bag that was made from another skirt. That skirt I found for $7 at the magical thrift store with the intention of turning it into something else.

Here's the before:


And now the after:


The pattern I used can be found in this mook:


And here's a picture of the original (not that you can even see it here...):


I have a small collection of Japanese mooks, but this is the first thing I've made from any of them. If you have any experience working with Burdastyle (formerly World of Burda) magazine patterns, you should have no trouble figuring out how to work from this. This particular pattern needed to be drafted by hand (the mook gives you diagrams and measurements), and then you can follow the pictures on how to put it together. I've made several of these bags from other material (mostly linen and corduroy) and they turn out awesome! Very roomy, and great for carrying knitting projects around. The bag is also lined, but for the suede version, I wanted it to be a little unconstructed, so no lining was added.