Making A New Handbag From a Thrifted Skirt

This last week, one of the sewing projects that I've been working on, has been to make a new handbag from a skirt that I bought from the charity shop from the £1 bin. It's a new feature in one of my local charity shops, so it's worth a rummage. I bought the skirt with the intention of wearing it, but when I got it home, despite it being my size, I didn't like the fit and felt it was probably a bit short. I could have re-donated it, afterall £1 isn't a big loss, but I did like the fabric.

The skirt was made of a thick upholstery type fabric in a leopard print, and I do love a good leopard print. In fact, I'd been tempted by a leopard print bag in Primark the same day I bought the skirt, but decided not to buy it as I wasn't 100% keen on the style of the bag. Anyway, the idea of using the skirt to make a bag came to me and I decided to give it a go. I'm afraid I was so enthusiastic to get started, that I didn't photograph the skirt, so you'll have to trust me on that one.

I'm currently enjoying using this bag on a daily basis, which I bought from Primark 18 months or so ago. I use it regularly and it's a great size for me. It fits my purse, keys, travel card, phone, tissues, lipstick, shopping bag, etc., which is all I really need to carry around with me. I wear it cross body and it sits comfortably. It's my ideal bag currently, so much so, that I bought a second one in brown to swap out when I feel like it. 

It's a pretty simple design, so I decided that I'd try to make my own pattern from it to make the new bag. I basically drew around the side and base of the bag onto a sheet of paper.  I then cut out the pieces from the skirt to make the bag from. I also cut out the same pieces in black linen (left over from the shed sofa cover) for a lining. I didn't make a pocket on the front or inside the bag, as this was complicating things too much for my liking, so it's a pocketless bag, but it will still be fine for what I need, as I'll probably use it more for days/nights out rather than everyday use.

I bought a pack of 3 black zips that were the right length from Home Bargains for 79p and sewed one of them into the leopard pieces before sewing them together and then I hand stitched the machine stitched lining into the outer part of the bag. These were the relatively easy bits to do and here's how it looked at this point in the make:

The next job was to attach some straps to the sides. I used some more of the leopard fabric to make small covers for the ends of the bag to give a neat finish and made them wide enough to stitch some webbing into.

I ordered 2m of black polypropylene 38mm webbing from eBay which cost £3.50 and also I bought a bag from the charity shop that had suitable hardware on it to use for the strap. 

This is the bag, it cost £3. It's not in great condition, as some of the trim is flaking, but the strap hardware is perfect for what I needed and it would have been more expensive to buy the hardware separately, so I decided to go with this. I will probably donate the body of the bag to the next Zero Waste event, in case anyone wants to use it as a handbag organiser or for storage, rather than throw it away, as it is colourful, well made and has lots of pockets and might be useful to someone.

Once I'd figured out how to attach the strap, I was able to put it all together and finish the bag. It was a bit tricky, as the skirt fabric was too thick to attach the small end covers by machine, so I had to sew them on by hand, which may prove to make them less strong. Only time will tell. The second hand fittings worked perfectly and I made the straps the same length as my current bag which works well for me.  Here's a couple of final pictures of the finished bag:

It can be worn quite long or quite short, whichever you prefer. I personally prefer to wear it short. It can even be worn inside a big coat, which is especially good if you're in a crowd and want to keep your bag secure.  I'm really happy with how it worked out. It was tricky to attach the handles as there are so many layers of thick fabric and strapping to sew through, which was difficult with a domestic machine, but I think I managed to make it strong and secure enough. Only time will tell. I'm now looking forward to using it next time I have a night or day out.

In total, I spent £7.77 to make this bag. I probably could have bought the Primark bag for less, but where's the fun in that. I now have a pattern, two more zips the right size and the know how to make more of these bags if I so wish, which is much more satisfying.