Handmade Wallet

Handmade Wallet, a photo by b-a-boop on Flickr.

Bob asked me to make him something for his birthday with less than a week to go. I wasn’t sure what I could whip up, but then I spotted his worn old wallet & remembered that I had bought him a new one over a year ago which he didn’t like, so I had returned it. I took his old one, snapped a few photos to refer back to, measured it & sketched it up. The next day I went looking through my fabrics to find something useful. I ended up eliminating everything but my denim scraps. After looking through my collection of bindings, I settled on a striped vintage bias binding that I believe came from my grandma and a remnant of some brush denim from what I think I made a pair of pants from in high school…does anyone else out there even remember brush denim? He was very pleased with it & especially liked how soft the denim was. I hope it last as long as the last one, but if not, I now have a pattern.

Schoolbook Tote Bag

This is the tote bag I made for my niece. She wanted one strong enough for her schoolbooks. Her favorite color is purple, so she chose the few pieces of fabric in my collection that had purple in them. I combined them with recycled jeans and lined it on the inside with remnants from a fleece sweatshirt I made myself many years ago. The handles were made from a thrifted belt. The one downside of using fabric samples and remnants is that I can’t make multiples of the items. I really really really liked this tote bag and had a hard time giving it up to her once it was done.

I’m a Finalist

Two of my creations have made the finals in the Recycled Denim Challenge on Ecouterre. I’m so excited to be part of this eco friendly competition. Ecouterre and it’s mother website Inhabitat are great eco/green websites to explore for inspiration, wonderful new designs and creative creations. There are links on my sidebar if you’d like to vote for me or explore the other finalists in the competition.