Risk Taking

Sometimes, I am my own worst enemy when it comes to taking risks. Playing it safe has gotten me far, but not far enough. This is especially true in my crafting. I am full of wild ideas, and then don't allow myself to follow through. The funny thing is, when I have allowed myself to take risks, I end up surprising myself and the idea comes out even better than I imagined. So, I have dubbed 2011 the year of follow through.

I went thrifting with my friend, Nico, a week ago and when we got to Playclothes, we started talking about this very thing - risk taking. I told her that I had a leather skirt that I never wear and have been intending to turn into a tote bag forever, but was afraid of ruining it. There is something about being a lover of all things vintage that makes you want to care for the things in your possession and the leather skirt was no different. Another friend gave it to me about 10 years ago, and in my own way, I felt it would hurt that memory if I messed up the transition from skirt to bag.

Well, with that conversation fresh in my mind, I thought, "What is the worst that happens? I could ruin it, sure, but better to try then have the skirt hanging around being useless." So, I measured my favorite tote bags to get an idea of the size I wanted, grabbed scissors, a measuring tape and the skirt and got busy.

Here's the before:


And here's the after:


I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and have a brand new appreciation for the bloggers I read who work with leather. That is no easy task!

In the end, I got the bag I wanted - very simple shape to show off the seaming from the skirt, and I left it unlined for a modern look.