Tote Bag From Old Jacket

Cotton Velour and Linen Tote Bag

Good old Salvation Army find for $.49 last Monday!  An XL purple cotton velour button down casual jacket had embroidered flowers at the bottom.  The left side is the front of the bag and the right side, the back. Using knowledge from Amy Butler and Lisa Lam, it is made with a gusset, an inside zippered pocket and open pockets, as well as an outside pocket in the gusset using another embroidered flower that was on the back of the jacket. The yellow flower showing on the right is part of the gusset. A gusset is simply one straight piece sewn between front and back...think upholstered seat cushion. This one is 4" wide.

The inside is made from an orchid linen jacket. One of the straps is the front buttonhole placket. Each strap is faced with the linen fabric and attached using the applique stitch on my machine.



A decorative stitch was also used along the top of the open pockets. The tote is lined with fusible fleece, so could be used to transport a laptop, if desired.

Little Girl's Pink Bedroom Makeover

Bedskirt with Pottery Barn bedspread and wall hanging

After Painting, Before Decorating

Granddaughter's Bedroom Before

There was no bedskirt on the twin bed nor were there curtains. So using my Salvation Army finds in pinks and greens and whites, I fashioned a gathered bedskirt with alternating pieces of fabric from skirts, blouses, and shirts.

The wall hanging above the bed was made with pink satin as the background, a crown cut from a skirt & pink trim from another skirt. Gathered fabric circles with buttons at the center are at each point and "Princess" is embroidered below.


The ceiling light was an old can light, so I found a small chandelier that didn't drop down very far. Electrician husband had to do a little tweaking in the old can and also had to buy a cover from Home Depot to camouflage the big hole.

Chandelier and curtains

The ruffled white curtains were a purchase from ebay.

Fabric bins and stool

The fabric bins were in one of my previous blogs, now filled with toys. The coffee table was found at an antiques consignment shop, bought with the intention of being a longtime piece that can be repurposed as my granddaughter grows and even go into a first apartment.

The stool is made of felt and filled with all  my scraps from all the projects I've worked on this past year. The instructions are in the book, Reinvention.

The lamp beside the bed has a shade I covered with fabric that has flowers made from ribbon; round swirls of ribbon.

On one of the walls, I placed a castle decal from Disney.

Another Fabric Box

Yet another fabric box.... this one uses cereal box cardboard inside for stiffener. This idea is from the book, Sunday Morning Quilts.  The authors' quilted the outside of their example, unlike mine. A cute labeling system is just a square of clear plastic sewn on with a walking foot. The cereal box pieces are inserted before sewing up one inside bottom edge. The box is very stable. Cutaway handles would not work in this application.

Pretty Curtain for Ugly Storage

Here is my back door coat rack and ugly storage.

















And here it is after adding a curtain gathered on a tension rod.

I repurposed, from Salvation Army, a pair of white linen pants and a cream linen skirt for banding at the edges. Still ugly and unorganized under there, but now everyone does not have to see it!

Repurposed Suede Jacket as Seat Cover

I found a use for yet another 49 cent item from Salvation Army. This seat cover is cut from the back of a suede jacket which had three seams, but looks good on the chair. Since the jacket had soiling at the cuffs and collar, as well as a ticket showing it was just dry cleaned, it couldn't have been worn. Hmm, I have a red suede jacket in my closet in the same condition...

Fabric Cube Bin

This fabric storage bin is made from two blouses bought at the Salvation Army.  It is the same as the burlap coffee bag ones in a previous blog about the book, Reinvention. The back inside wall is from a blouse front with a pocket.

I stitched 1/4" up each outside corner seam after constructing, using the Garnet Hill inspiration, for greater strength as these are just lightweight cotton fabrics, but with the cotton batting inside, they stand up fairly well.

My plans are to make three coordinating bins to put under a low table in a bedroom.

Free Prints from Library of Congress

This picture was downloaded from the Library of Congress website.  After seeing an idea in Martha Stewart Living's April 2013 issue, I made sure a picture could actually be printed from the website.

The magazine's idea was to have clipboards mounted on your wall to which you can display a changing display, whether it be art from a website or your children's art. They had three rows of three clipboards with black and white architectural images.  It is suggested to use cardstock; I used what I had on hand-a notebook divider.