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.  

Upcycled Denim Tote

How is everyone doing with their Mother's Day gifts?  Did you buy or did you make?  

I was thinking to myself "what would mom love?"  Well, I KNOW for a fact that a tote bag is ALWAYS a good choice for moms, and since all my upcycled totes have been so well received, I knew I have to make one for my mom.

Like it? Want to make one? Read on for the tutorial :)

Upcycled Military Uniform Tote {Part 2}

Now that our renovation has slowed, I finally have a bit of time to do other things.  First was to get back into blogging because I have neglected my blog, but I have finally (sorta) gotten my blog the way I wanted, so now it's back to sewing.

I have decided to finish one of my (many) WIPs (work in progress), I chose the Upcycled Military Uniform Tote (Read Part 1  here) that I started a few months ago.

Part 2 will be about tote closure, handles, and putting it all together.

Let's take a look at the finished product!!!!

Now Let's see how I finished it.

Upcycled Military Uniform Tote {Part 1}

To continue the recycling military shirt series, i am using the back of the shirt to make a tote bag.

using the rest of the shirt

cut out the military fabric, lining, and batting

first basted the edges, then sew the pocket (taken from another torn up cargo pants).  I wanted to make the tote a little bit more girlie, so i am adding a piece of lace trim to the tote

i am doing the boxed corner of 3 inches

OK, this is a work in progress, check back soon for updates! :)

Upcycled Denim Tote

A friend's birthday was coming up and I wanted to make her a tote bag that she could carry all of her binders in (in style too) :)

I had some old jeans lying around so I thought I could upcycle them!

This is how it turned out

Now, let's see how i made it.

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!