Friday 11 February 2011

A Brand New Bag!

At last!  I can share with you my brand new crochet bag: 



And I'm very happy to say that I didn't have to resort to any of my threats to get it finished!

Unfortunately the camera isn't doing me many favours - the colours are much deeper compared to these photos, but you can kind of get the feel of it I hope.

It all started with a pillowcase I found in a charity shop.  First I fell in love with the colour (so rich!), and then with the price (an irresistibly cheap 50p!)


The flowers are made from the contrasting parts of the same pillowcase.  I used this brilliant tutorial for the roses, and doodled my own for the tulip.  The stitching could have been neater on the roses, but I think this was before I had the lil sewing machine to help.


I love LOVE LOVE the lining material.  Another charity shop find, it's cut from a nightgown which cost around £2, and there's still loads leftover for other little projects :D

But the bit I'm most proud of is the handles... I'd been agonizing for weeks about what to make them from.  I didn't have enough of the original pillowcase fabric left, and the idea had been to make this an entirely upcycled bag... but then along came a real eureka moment:


...the underwires of a spectacularly bad bra!  Of course!  I cannot even begin to tell you how much fun it was taking a razor blade to such an uncomfortable monstrosity.  Excellent therapy! 

The metal on its own would have been a bit obtrusive, so I covered them using the same crochet cotton as I used to embroider the flower stems, and they blend in perfectly.




It's far from being a perfect project - it was muddled together in such a haphazard, can-you-tell-what-it-is-yet? kind of way - but I like it.  And with the granny stripe poking out the top?  Well, that's just even better!

5 comments:

Inthesky said...

Ingenious and eco-friendly. This is a very pretty and functional bag.

Gumbo Lily said...

I've had some nasty underwire bras that I would gladly contribute to crochet bag handles! Good thinking! Pretty bag.

Jody

Tickety-boo said...

Wow love your blog! Thanks for stopping by my blog or I may not have found yours. I am now a follower.
What a fantastic idea to make a bag. So clever!
Love
Tickety-boo xxxx

Kathryn W. said...

oh neat! i couldn't see the handles at first, but the covering looks spectacular! i won't let my uncomfortable bras see it or they might stab me in fear :)

Stephanie said...

brilliant! I love the handles! good job!!!!