Golden Heart Pocket Upcycled Denim Bag

Just finished another bag and I want to show it to you. This is a classy one, with both sides the same.

This is the front side or one side I may say as both are thee same.

Here is the other side.

The Process

This is the pair of jeans I've upcycled. The color is a little bit deceiving as I took the photos in different rooms at different times of the day. After looking at them, I believe the above is the right color.

This one had two nice pockets, too nice not to use them.

The front part of the pants. It was a strange one, look at the tailoring. Must tell you, I've never seen a similar one before.

Loved this button and saved for a future project, also loved the fabric and the color. I'd say I've been lucky with this one, till I started sewing. I'll tell you later about it.

At first I thought I'd cut a big piece so I won't need to add anything but because the carry straps I had to rethink it.

After some thinking I decided to resize it as you can see on the photo and add an additional piece to the upper part while applying the carry straps and two pieces to each side to get the desired width.

It was a 30cm piece.

After another round of thinking it looked like it's best to add one piece to the side instead of two. The other thing I thought was using both pockets and make the bag to have two identical sides. This is an advantage when it comes to the zipper. Some women carry their handbag on the left shoulder, others on the right and the zipper can be a problem. Making both sides the same takes care of the problem.

I wanted to show you how I cheat while sewing. Marking the line helps me a lot. It is cheating but justified as I'm still a beginner.

Working with a dark color has its advantages, in this case the line where the two pieces were merged is not visible, so that was a blessing.

However, working with an elastic fabric is not a blessing. It is my first and let me tell you, you need to be careful. After sewing together the pieces, one side ended up being longer with 0.5cm.

It is not funny but can be easily fixed. After I saw what's happened here I thought I'd never buy such jeans but that would be a mistake. I know I won't be able to resist a good design especially if it's good quality.

And here it is! This time it's visible where the two pieces are joined. Or I can see it as I know where to look.

The Lining

For the lining I thought this dark red shirt would be perfect. I've never worked with an one color lining. I've always had striped and checkered lining, which makes it easier when it comes to sewing. With this one here however there was no room for error.

The usual three pockets inside. One is 10.5cm, the one in the middle is 14cm and the third one is 10cm wide and 13cm long.

A close-up photo to show you the details.

The other side is pretty simple, no pockets here as the shirt had no pockets.

L 29cm, W 29cm and the bottom is 10cm.

It was a great experience and I think I'm getting better at it. I don't know what's going to happen with this one yet but I love this handbag a lot. Maybe I'm going to keep it.

Tomorrow is a new day and I'm ready for a new adventure and another bag. Stay tuned! I need to work fast as when the lockdown is lifted, I'll be more busier. I'm never bored and the day is never enough for all the things I's like to do.

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