Building a Sustainable Bag

Posted by Renee Jones on

What do you call a secondhand curtain, a used Orioles apron and remnant upholstery fabric?    Answer: A Fabulous Upcycled Bag!

This Lorraine Bag: Blue Diamonds was really exciting to create! I love putting materials together that otherwise would have no relation, and yet find a way for them to live together in harmony. 

Its a way to revive used or discarded items and build them a new life.

I live close to Baltimore so it was no surprise to me to find this Orioles Apron in our local Salvation Army Store. Although I am not a baseball buff I did really like the stars and stripes! So I bought it, and its been sitting in my fabric stash, waiting to be a part of a project for about a year now!

And when I came across a piece of gorgeous remnant upholstery fabric that had interesting navy and white patterning I just knew it would go together with the apron.

 

So as usual, I got to work!

After I began to cut the material I realized the Apron was not large enough to make the entire lining. Luckily I had a small amount of the upholstery fabric left! And the backside of the fabric was so beautiful and matched the stars and stripes perfectly, I used it without hesitation!

I installed a heavy duty zipper.

Here's a peak into the inside lining while the bag was half finished.

So I get to this point and realize I hadn't thought of what I was going to use for the strap...lucky I had made a trip to the Goodwill the week before and stumbled upon this dark gray/blue curtain! It was meant to be!

 

 

 

 And of course, if Im not sewing at night I'm trying to work on my creations during nap time!!!

I am so excited about this one of a kind bag. It makes me feel like I'm making a difference, small as that may seem. I could have gone to the fabric store and bought all of the fabric (and much more than I need, which is what I got into the habit of doing). But with upcycling you are forced to use the material your dealt. You have no choice but to be creative...and that is exciting!!!!!


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