Wednesday, June 11, 2008

A little of this... a little of that. Recycling at its' best!

So... last night, I was staring at my two giant tupperware containers full of fabric, wondering where in the world I was going to put the Freecycled scraps I still hadn't put away yet... and finally, I figured I'd just make another something-or-other to make the pile a little bit smaller! Tee hee..
In the middle of the scrap pile, I saw this pretty pretty piece of Belle by Amy Butler fabric and felt a yearning for a new tote bag.

Originally, I started thinking about the Artsy Clutch in Amy Karol's awesome Bend the Rules Sewing book... and then diverted to Lotta Jansdotter's book Simple Sewing and her Simple Tote... and then I looked at my super worn out diaper bag for handle ideas.
Since I am working with scraps, I couldn't be choosy about centering the design on the bag and I just worked with it. I found another scrap that matched (woo hoo!) for the lining and added some old coat buttons to the bag for decoration.
For additional strength on the straps, I added a piece of ribbon that an order from Sew Mama Sew came wrapped in and viola... the bag was done!

Not too bad I'd say! Total cost of the bag: $1.50 for the thread. Everything else was recycled or Freecycled!

I'm off to take a walk now with Ro to the grocery store and use my pretty new tote! BTW, I still need to put the scraps away... but I feel happily diverted for the moment.

What do you do with your scraps?