Wednesday, April 27, 2011

My DIY: Eco-friendly lace shopper


It's spring, and a young woman's fancy turns lightly to thoughts of upcycled shlepping gear.

It's one thing to decline plastic in favor of a self-important canvas tote or even a non-self-important one*. It's another to get one's canvas tote from the discard bin and make it pretty.

Why sew or buy your own tote when thrift stores always seem full of languishing logo'd totes?

I got this tote from a workmate, one of hundreds who had received the identical tote after a conference.


It was new, sturdy and not one bit cute.


I blackened out the logo.


And I dug out a doily my friend Katie had given me over a year ago when she bequeathed her entire craft stash to me.


I bleached and ironed it.


I centered it on the bottom of the bag and used Fabri-Tac to glue it down. The glue worked much better than expected and dried clear.


I folded down and glued the corners.


I like how the lace edge changes the whole shape of the bag.


Total cost: $0.

*Although I do love the concept.

14 comments:

  1. Hugely, hugely improved. Indeed there's rather a touch of Chanel about it now.

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  2. this is one heck of a tote!! :) so much better than the designers one!

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  3. So, so, so pretty! I would have thought it impossible to make that tote cute.

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  4. Ha! If you think that was my entire craft stash. . .

    But seriously, wow! What an amazing DIY! That doily looks like a million bucks on that tote. Now you have a sturdy, roomy (as I know because I have one of those hundreds of black nylon souvenirs), totally on-trend bag for spring.

    And you didn’t even have to cut up the lace! If you ever get tired of the lace on the bag you could totally dissolve the glue, dye it black and do this: http://www.blogforbettersewing.com/2011/04/daily-dress-erdem.html

    In conclusion: super awesome. Well done! (btw, don't you have a smaller doily and a clutch just itching to be given the same treatment and given away, hint, hint???)

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  5. Ok, this is one of my favorite DIYs yet. SO cute. And we ALL have those ugly bags hidden at the bottom of our closets.

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  6. This looks amazing. I just love a super-easy DIY that includes absolutely no sewing. Well done!

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  7. OMG... you are so creative and $0.. that's amazing! Love Love Love

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  8. Katie, Indeed I believe a clutch can be found. Also, I think the black lace would look really cool on the beige convention bags with the black handles that I've seen all over the place.

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  9. You have no idea how much I LOVE this!! So creative!

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  10. I love your tote! what a difference a piece of lace could make. I featured your tutorial on my blog: http://www.vjuliet.com/2012/04/totes.html

    xoxo Julieta
    www.vjuliet.com

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