Saturday, September 13, 2008

Pants----> Bags Tutorial pt.2 of 3

 Welcome, this is the second part of the tutorial sharing with the crafty community some excellent reuse/upcycling ideas. These bags are available in my shop. Here's the second bag plan for turning a pair of old pants into three super sweet customized bags! This tutorial assumes you read the first part so scroll down and catch up!

You can obviously put anything your crazy mind can come up with on a bag, in fact most any part of these plans is alterable to fit your desires. Make it you own!

We'll be using the middle pieces of the pants that were set aside earlier, a few pieces of fabric scraps, a large piece of salvaged lining and some strips of fabric for straps.

I cut open the two leg pieces, each one was way longer then it was  tall, so I cut a strip off each side and used them for pockets and closures respectively. They are also somewhat cone shaped, being as they are meant to fit a persons leg. One could A.) Cut the sides such that the two pieces are more rectangular, or B.) flip one piece so the long side of that one fits the short side of the other. Lay out your design on the two pieces and applique! This bag will have pockets on the inside so I chose not to have on the outside. These bats were cut free hand from velvet by folding the fabric over for symmetry. A great gothic look for Halloween!

Now since this bag is a little larger I'm going to "gusset" the bottom, that is fold the corners to give it a flat-ish base. Paper bags are folded in a similar fashion. I sew the sides up and lay it out flat, pin a few inches in from the edge. The further I pin the larger this gusset will be. I then push in the tip to make a T-shaped bit, and sew it. Then just sew across the rest of the bottom. If the pic and description make your head hurt, skip it, it's not that important. Now set aside this piece, we're going to make a lining.

With the Lining you have some options, you generally want it to be as wide as your bag, and measure big! You can always take it in, but it's really hard to add more. You may make it the same height as your bag, or you may add several inches and fold the lining over the top. I like to have extra to add height to the bag. Sew your pockets on first, then sew around the edge, right sides facing each other. Here's the tricky bit, turn the lining pocket side out, kinda like it's own bag. Now right side to right, that is applique touching pockets, start sewing the edge. This is a little like sewing a pillow or a plushie as you will need to leave a few inches open the turn the bag right side out. A bag made with thinner material will fit through a smaller hole, heavy stiff denim will need a larger hole to be left. The first pic shows the pinning, the next how it looks after turning right side out. You will need to hand finish the hole, once again just like a pillow or plushie. Push the lining down into the bag and flatten it out. I sometimes tack the lining down into the corner of the bag to make the finishing easier.

After folding the lining down hem the top edge. I used a fancy stitch and contrasting thread. I'm told that some machines can actually sew in a bat pattern! I'm sooo jealous! The straps were sewn on and two button straps added. The button straps are just a strip folded over and sewn, then turned and sewed flat around the edge. For instructions on sewing a button hole click here.

This concludes this section, the next one will show you how to make a "Butt Bag" from the top section of the pants. Besides being a magnet for compliments these bags are (in my opinion) the most useful with all their pockets and large size! See you then!

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