Demin bag

I was in our local Co-op the other day and the woman in front of me was packing her shopping into a tote bag made of denim and leather. "I want one of those.  Its a great colour for autumn/winter and sturdy for rainy days - not like my summer ones made of old skirts and shirts." I am not usually jealous of others' fashion but this just struck my fancy.

As I cycled home with the emergency milk purchase (too many late night hot chocolates and a rice pudding had upset my shopping routine) I ponder on a pair of jeans I had tried to unsuccessfully alter the fit of some time ago and were still unworn in the drawer. They were old fashioned thick material ones with double seams (currently I prefer the lighter ones with a bit of lycra from a cheap store Mat**lan). 

I fished the jeans out and a sharp pair of scissors - after much hacking I had two rectangles and three strips for the sides/bottom plus two wide bands for handles. 

I put a new size 14 sewing machine needle in before starting this project and threw it away straight after. The thick material and going over the double seams blunted it completely.

As you can see I added a gingham lining to the bag and handles.  I made the handles quite wide as my last bags were narrow and painful if overloaded.  I also inserted some cardboard (cereal packet) to make the sides stand up!

Great make - it holds 8 paperback library books.