Upcycled Military Uniform Reversible Tote

I don't know about you, but I am a little bit ADD when it comes to my creativity.  When an idea pops into my head, I will immediately go search for fabrics and have them out and start cutting, but then another idea would pop into my head and I start the process again, so I end up having a few WIPs (work in progress) lying around.  This was one of them. 

September of last year, I started cutting out some old military waterproof  pants, and then I stopped.  Then when Mother's Day approaching so quickly, I dug it out and started working on it again.  

Repurposing Thrift Store Finds

I normally do not shop at thrift stores because I have this thing about wearing other people's clothes or sitting on someone else's couch.  But for costumes, I definitely check them out first.  

My girl friend and I hosted a costume party with a 50's theme, and we went hunting at thrift stores and eventually found a few dresses that I could turn them into something 50's.

Upcycled Corduroy Pants Overnight Bag.

I have not been updating my blog lately, reasons being i was too lazy to do it lol but since i got hooked on pinterest, i have been more inspired to do more sewing and creating. 

My latest creation is an overnight bag made with leftover fabric and corduroy jeans.

First, i cut both legs off of the jeans, cut them into rectangles, measured them and cut the leftover fabric the same size. 

i also cut out the back pockets of the jeans and sewed them onto the fabric in the front. sewed two loops on both sides for a strap.

Then sew the sides and bottom of both the fabric and the lining (the black jeans), using the boxed corner technique, made the boxed corners 8 inches wide. then sewed the zipper onto the fabric and lining. last, i sewed the waist band of the jeans onto the bag as handles.  

this whole project only took me about a few hours counting cutting out fabric.  

see the corduroy pants? lol

there u have it, a cheap overnight bag! the dimensions: W 34inches, H 18 inches, D 8 inches. 

you can also make it sturdy by including interfacing. make it fluffy by adding a layer of batting. 

Upcycled Sweatshirt Tote Bag

So hubby has this really cute sweatshirt that he didnt want anymore, but it's not torn or anything, so i decided to upcycle it into a tote bag!

Here is the finished product

here is the sweatshirt, Domo Kun

After cutting it at the sleeves and the neck, i started with the lining, sewing the front big pocket onto the lining

then sewing the lining, front and back sweatshirt pieces together

haha he is just too cute

the straps are made from the sleeves. i cut the sleeves, length wise, in half, then sewed the two pieces at the cut, then made it into a strap

straps are sewn onto the bag! YAY done!