Weeks 3 & 4

I'm getting ahead of myself. Once again, I have taken one garment and made 2 bags. This week, it's a button-down shirt.

The first bag is a pure recycle, nothing added but thread. A model I've made before. I like to think it's getting better each time. Actually the first one was really quite good, the next two were way too big and now it's good again.

The body of the bag is made from the body of the shirt. The button placket has been sewn shut, but the chest pocket remains. I used some scraps to make handles.

The finishing touch, a stroke of genius if I do say so myself, is to use a cuff to make a dual function closure. You can roll up the bag and use the cuff to keep it small and tidy when not in use. Or you can use the cuff to keep the top closed and stuff from falling out when it's full. Like two baguettes.

The second bag has some sail fabric added. As I mentioned before, I picked up a pants-bag full of scraps from a local sail maker. The dark blue goes with the plaid, so I used one strip for the sides and bottom and another for a facing strip at the top.

The front and back of the bag are cut from the sleeves of the shirt. I've made bags from just sleeves, but they're always a bit too small to be really useful. (Apologies to those of you with kids in the Thomas phase.)

One handle comes from the collar and the other is made from another scrap. I kept the button & buttonhole on the collar and added one of each on the other side of the bag so it could be closed up a bit. This bag does not have a handy dandy folding mechanism, but I like it just the same.