My First Hand Bag

I am visiting my friend Lindsey in Seattle and I wanted to bring her a little gift that would be fun and useful. I decided upon a tote bag from the S.E.W. Everything Workshop book.


I altered the design a bit, Save My Pants style, and used a pair of damaged Dickies Work Pants (courtesy of G&L) to make the shell. The best part about using old work pants...they have a button closure pocket that is perfect for holding a cell phone, ipod, etc. etc. so I put that on the outside for easy access. The inside seams of the pant were sewn with contrasting white thread, which looks awesome against the Charcoal color of the pant, so I used that little detail on the handles.


The inside liner is just simple and subtle yellow and while floral pattern on cotton fabric you can buy at any fabric store. I added an inside pocket on the liner too for organization. The same fabric is used on the underside of the handles for a little color in the shell.

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy this bag was to make and I know I will be making more. Next project on the list: to make a matching wallet to fill that handy inside pocket.

Coming soon...the Internet

I have been without internet access since November of 2009...so it has been a little tough updating the blog. But my house remodel project is done, I have a yellow sewing room and will be ready to "re-open" save my pants soon. The Internet is coming Tuesday, then I need to hook up the phone jacks so we'll see how that goes, may require some assistance. Either way, next week we'll be back!

I know, I know almost a year since my last post

Yes, I have a bad habit going, not posting to my blog, but I can change. Haha. Here is a brand new blog post with pictures and everything! I just finished saving a pair of pants from a very dear friend. There was a large tear down the back pocket leaving nothing to the imagination, so I fixed it up with a dark brown patch (as suggested) and now they are as good as new. Check it out

Step 1: examine the damage, this tear is pretty nasty and if it's not fixed it will only spread















Step 2: place patch on tear and pin in place















Step 3: sew and done. Now these pants are ready to be worn again