You probably all know by now that I’m handbag mad so today’s tutorial on how to make a handbag from a skirt or a pair of shorts was just up my street!
I first saw a more complicated version of this idea to make a handbag from a skirt a good few months ago on Pinterest and decided to have a go at making a more simplified version of my own. I went on a charity shop expedition to search for what I was after and got everything in one trip for a total of £3.50. Then I completely forgot about it after I tidied the things I’d bought away into the black hole that is my ‘must make for the blog’ box. They were in good company though – the box is filled with my cross stitch things waiting to be turned into the pattern I had custom made, the scarves I bought to make a floaty Dreamweaver thing, a pretty paper napkin to make some decoupage and finally some varnish for my planned upcycled bin project! Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, at the Festival of Thrift there were some (much more technical versions) for sale and it reminded me to go get my black hole box out to get making!
They were in good company though – the box is filled with my cross stitch things waiting to be turned into the pattern I had custom made, the scarves I bought to make a floaty Dreamweaver thing, a pretty paper napkin to make some decoupage and finally some varnish for my planned upcycled bin project! Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, at the Festival of Thrift there were some (much more technical versions) for sale and it reminded me to go get my black hole box out to get making!
Making the bag was actually one of the simplest craft projects I’ve ever done – it literally took me longer to get the sewing machine out of the garage and threaded than it did to make the bag itself!
I made my bag from a short denim skirt that I bought for £1.50 and I use a tie that I bought for a pound as the handle. I also bought a scarf that would be a perfect handle for a pound but I ended up going with the tie for now as I loved the mustard yellow!
Be careful when you’re choosing a skirt as you don’t want any rips or tears in them and ideally the hem wants to be a normal hem without any frayed edges if possible. All sorts of skirts can be used to make a bag though, you just need to follow the same process but maybe cut the length of longer skirts so you don’t end up with a Mary Poppins bag! Shorts would be a bit harder although to be fair I would just cut the crotch area out and then follow the instructions below for the skirt.
Are you ready for how simple this is?
How to make a handbag from a skirt or a pair of shorts
I turned the skirt inside out and pinned the bottom edges together.
Then I did a running stitch right across the bottom using my sewing machine. I’m over cautious so I went over my stitching about four times (maybe five but I’m a worrier and I thought that I’d make it as secure as I could. 😉
Then I just turn the bag the right way around and threaded the tie I’d chosen through the belt hooks at the side of the skirt.
And that’s it, how to make a handbag from a skirt in less than 10 minutes!
I’m sure you could do more with it to be honest though – lining it with a contrasting fabric would be good or you even could use a cute oversized button and some pretty ribbon to make a bit of a fastener but I’m quite happy to leave mine as it is. Unless I can find the pin badges I bought from New York that is!
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