2022 | 15 hours | $0 | Sewing, Embroidery
I made this tote bag for a friend's birthday. Sewing denim is always tricky, as the fabric is thick and specific needles must be used, but I incorporated different materials in it as well, including fleece and polyester. As usual, I up-cycled old denim jeans and even incorporated features of the jeans into the bag. The rest of the fabric is what I found around the house. My friend loved the bag and I loved making it.
I used a size 16 needle and heavyweight thread. I was pleasantly surprised of the ease of sewing and the stitching that turned out very similar to that on an authentic pair of jeans.
The back pocket is taken straight from a pair of jeans, and another lighter-washed jean, as well as a plaid fleece, is used for the accent strip.
The strap is the waistband of the original jeans used to create the bag, with the belt straps removed. The button is unfortunately not functional, but it does look cool.
Front and back view
Embroidery
I felt there was something missing on the large blank space on the front of the bag, so I decided to embroider a little message- "c'est la vie". My friend likes French and knows a bit of it, so I thought it was fitting. I also embroidered a bear holding a heart in the same plaid fabric. Perhaps he ripped it out of the bag. That's the life.
The embroidery went smoothly, as I traced the desired images beforehand with fabric chalk.
Inner Lining
For the lining, I first completed sewing the denim tote bag, along with the embroidery and the strap. Then, I sewed the grey polyester fabric into a basic bag shape, and sewed the top edge inwards so the stray threads were tucked in. I turned it inside out, put it into the denim bag, then completely sewed the top edge with the denim. To make sure the lining stayed in place, I hand-sewed the bottom portion to line up with the edges.
I also sewed a pocket the size of a jean pocket into the lining for convenience.
I am very happy with how the lining turned out and I think it really makes the bag feel complete.
Reinforcement
How sad would it be if one day my friend was walking to school carrying all of her heavy textbooks in this bag and everything fell through the bottom? Super sad. After all, they were just being held up by a few threads. To make sure that never happens, I reinforced the bottom and sides of the bag with zigzag stitches galore.
