An old shirt into a chic pouch? Yes please!

For the first time in ages I had a free Saturday!!!


It sounds kind of mad to start a post like this but with the tight school schedule I've been having; trust me, it was more than a blessing to have a free day. So instead of wasting my day away in bed watching all the movies and series I could get my hands on, (which does not sound like a bad idea anyway), I decided to be productive and embark on a sustainability project. I must say, the result was mind blowing! I mean, considering how much of a sewing rookie I am.

I didn't have a pouch for all my tailoring and design tools and had walked all around town trying to find one. My efforts were futile as the only one I found was obscenely expensive. (Haha! Okay, that's slightly exaggerated...)

I made my mind up, I had to design one of my own.

What you need:

• An old striped shirt
• An old polka shirt
• 11 x 4.5 inch lace
• 8 golden studs
• Interfacing
• Ruler
• Marking pen or chalk
• Basic Sewing Tools (Fabric scissors, thread, sewing machine e.t.c.)

I started by cutting up the back-side of the old striped shirt and ironed it. I then marked my desired measurements on it as follows:

• Main bag: 8" high x 10" wide (+ 1" seam allowance on all sides)
• Flap: 4" high x 10" wide (+ 1" seam allowance)

Due to my limited amount of fabric, I didn't want to cut out the fabric for the flap as I would have to add more seam allowance. I also wanted the stripes to match up with little effort so I cut everything on fold. That means that my final fabric was 12" high x 10" wide (+ 1" seam allowance on all sides)

I cut the interfacing and lining fabric with the same measurements as the striped fabric and sewed them together. I marked my seam allowance on all sides and with the wrong sides facing each other, I sewed the two opposite sides of the bag.

Having previously snipped the seam allowance horizontally where the flap would begin, I folded the seam allowance and carefully sewed it in. At this point; the basic shape of the bag had been completed. I pressed all the corners to lay them flat. 

Obviously, I wanted to add some umph to the bag so that it didn't looked like it was owned by an inmate. Haha! This is where the lace and golden studs come in. I sewed the lace onto the end of the flap; 2" on the outside and the rest on the inside (as shown in the pictures). Finally, I pressed the golden studs onto the sides of the flap, four on each side as shown in the photos below.

A little red wine never hurt nobody :)

To make the bag look neat, I hand sewed all the gaping edges that were on the pouch. It took me a whole day to complete this project but all in all it was an amazing experience! The pouch fits all the tailoring and design materials that I need everyday. I'm immensely happy with the results.

I hope you enjoyed this D.I.Y tutorial :) I've been wondering if I should post more D.I.Ys on the blog. If so, comment below or on my Facebook page. 

As always, lots of love!

xx

Mimmie

P.S.: I'd like to thank you for all the feedback you've been sending me darlings! It all warms my heart :)