Oh happy dance over here! I’m super excited to be back at my sewing machine again for my reduce, reuse, REFASHION fun I share this time each month. What’s that, you say? I am aiming to encourage you to reduce waste, reuse what you have on hand, and refashion it into something for yourself, your home, or for others. Today these hand-me-down bits of cloth are going to become a feed sack tote bag.

Let me just say I have the most awesome friends not only nearby, but online too. When I have readers who think of me and send me goodies, it truly touches my heart.  A fellow blogger named Lucy was in the middle of moving and couldn’t take all of her stash of treasures with her. Plus, she was no longer going to continue to blog at Patina Paradise.

She asked if I would be interested in any of her things since she knew I was a kindred spirit for all things vintage. Not only did she send vintage doilies, scraps of linens, clothing, bits and baubles, but Lucy also included this feed sack remnant. She knows me well. tee hee.

I daresay my eyes popped out when I saw it. What a fun piece to play with! Also, I had to admit that anyone that had the tenacity to cut a feed sack has more than me. hee hee. I have to close my eyes! You can see my past feed sack project in these posts.  So…what’s your guess on what it was going to be used for? I say a top of a dress. hmmm…

TIME TO GET MY SEW ON

While I have found uses for most of the goodies Lucy sent, this one was waiting. I had ideas, but really wanted it to gel in my head before I had at it. Finally, I made up my mind to turn it into a feed sack tote bag.

Okay…I’ll admit that I have a bag/purse/tote fetish of sorts. You can see my last purse I made after upholstering a chair with feed sack HERE. Also, you can see my upcycled lunch bag totes that I now carry in my shop HERE too. Did you know I began my small business journey selling bags and dolls? Time flies, I tell ya.

First, I decided to line my feed sack tote bag with a twill I already had on hand. Since the feed sack wasn’t at stout as some I have in my possession, I felt it needed some strengthening and stability. It was simple to use the design that was already cut out of the feed sack and replicate it on the twill.

ASSEMBLY

Then, once I had my pieces cut, I used my serger to bind the edges and box the corners of the lining and the cover. Notice I chose to use a 3″ boxed corner so the tote would have a nice wide 6″ bottom. If you want to know more about boxing a corner, you can see my example in my felted sweater footstool post with video.

 

Next, I joined the two layers together with my sewing machine.

Last, but not least, I made leather handles from the scrap I had left over from the leather bench my husband and I built HERE, and sewing clips and a leather needle, plus my zipper foot make it a breeze. note: I used piping (welting) for inside the handles to give them stability.

TIME FOR THE REVEAL

TERMS OF USE: This design is my trademarked property & it cannot be shared or distributed for monetary gain in any way, it may not be modified in any way, and you may not claim the work as your own.

What a fun bag to create and the design is one I think I can continue to replicate and improve on. Notice I reinforced the bottom so no sagging to make you have to dig for your keys. (I hate doing that! haha! Can I get an amen?)

I really could have gone crazy with adding bells and whistles to the design. However, I tried to keep telling myself to use the K.I.S.S. methodology (keep it simple stupid). Since the feed sack had red, I just had to add a zippered ticking pocket. I’m smitten with the outcome. Are you?

My goal was to inspire you to get crafty. There are oodles of free patterns for totes and bags already created for you by other bloggers online that you can tweak to your heart’s content. You can do it!

If you would like to own this handmade creation of mine, you can find it and much more available in my shop. Be sure to sign up for my free newsletter for a discount. (see details below)

In addition, pin and share my feed sack tote bag fun to inspire others. Let’s all reduce, reuse, and REFASHION in your own way too.

Up next, I’ll be taking this…er…mirror and rescuing it. haha! Take a look at its new life IN THIS POST.

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More DIY sewing projects like my feed sack tote bag: