from Tunic to Tote

So, the days of Christmas are over!

While realizing that Christmas has passed is not a particularly  merry thought, I am quite happy to wave goodbye to the this year trending hashtag of 'let it snow': #letitsnow ....
Because every time I see that, I picture a French man angrily demanding the boobs: "Le tits, now!"

that time I saved England. ( or... that time I made a shopper bag)

Last Octobre, when I was visiting Oxford for work, England was suffering from a catastrophe of a national scale. Consternation everywhere.

"This is outrageous!" shouted a lady in front of me in Sainsbury's. "It's like they have taken away my freedom!" said a guy in a preppy Oxford to his mate.

What was happening? World War III? the beginnings of Brexit? No, this was much worse. Much, much worse. The government had decided to ban all free plastic bags in shops, and the country was in uproar.

DIY: backpack becomes... well, a backpack.

"Ugggh, I can't move..." I sighed last Monday, whilst hobbling through the house like an old lady. 

Yeah.. After a couple of years being lazy in the city center of Groningen, those bicycle rides (31 km a day) are something to get used to, if not for the sore muscles, than at least for the damage that a saddle does to your butt. I'm not gonna describe the situation of my bottom in detail ( I've got boundaries, people! Not many, but still some!) but let's just say that if I had been a baboon, they surely would have thought I had my fertile period. 

Luckily, the view during my cycle ride is not too bad...

See that tiny white house on the left? That's ours!

As I soon discovered, not only my butt and bicycle, but also my collection of bags is not entirely adjusted to the long bike rides: I only own shoppers and hand bags, which aren't very useful on a bike. So, I decided to make myself a backpack!

From canvas to clutch

"Really...?" The cashier of the thrift shop said hesitantly. "We also sell really nice bags over here. And they are quite cheap" and she pulled a black, pleather clutch with rhinestones in sight. 

She had seen me wandering around in their thrift shop, buying strange items every time, so when she asked me about it, we came to talk about my projects of transforming thrift finds into something new. And now I had asked her if she had a canvas painting somewhere that I could transform into a clutch. She clearly thought that I was out of my mind. Resizing a skirt or a dress was one thing, but making a clutch out of a painting, that was plainly berserk. 

But as I kept insisting ( also in an attempt to escape the horrendous clutch that she was trying to set me up with) she eventually complied, and I went home with a canvas artwork that she had sold to me for 50 cents.

and of course -crazy or not- I made a clutch from it! Here's what I did. 

"Oh my, is that a Rembrandt on your bag?" Needlepoint becomes shopper bag!

"Are you sure about that one?" the cashier of the thrift store said, raising one eyebrow while looking skeptically at the items that I was buying. She wasn't talking about the sweet pair of high heels (new! can you believe my luck?) or the couple of storage cans I wanted to buy. No, the reason for her eye-brow action was a framed embroidered artwork, depicting some medieval, bearded man doing whatever bearded medieval men usually do. By the look of it, it had been in the thrift shop for ages. I could feel the hesitation of the cashier: the thing was incredibly ugly. But I bought it nevertheless. Was I out of my mind? Maybe, but I had great plans for it: making a shopper bag!

DIY: Cushion case becomes Shoulder bag (2)

People who know me, know I am a bit of a hamster. Not that I sport a particularly furry face, or smell like sawdust ( at least, nobody has told me yet..) but I do like to carry things with me. I have done this since I was a little girl: making little "survival kits" that I carried with me. Nowadays, my survival kits have become a little more suburban, consisting in sketchbooks, pencils, books, a water bottle and so on. And since my cheeks won't stretch that far, I always need a bag to take all those things with me.

A week ago I posted this bag that was made from a cushion cover. But actually, that bag was only the first version of a bag that I made. Today, I show you how to transform a cushion cover in fairly easy steps into a nice shoulder bag!

DIY: Cushion case becomes shoulder bag.

You'll need:

- a cushion case made from sturdy fabric with a zipper (Mine was an old cover from Ikea, size 50x50)

- a piece of carton, approx. 25x40 cm. 

- a piece of fabric, approx. 25x40 cm.  

- Duct tape or something alike. 

- something that can be used for straps. (fabric belts work really well) 

-sewing equipment. 

Level: fairly easy.

A while ago, I was making a handbag. While I was fiddling with zippers and side-panels, I thought: "Isn't there an easier way to make something like this?"

Of course, there are many tutorials on very simple tote bags or envelope bags, but I wanted a nice bag. With a zipper. And nice fabric. That was suitable for work and could carry some weight. And then I had an idea.

Cushion covers!!