A gray (green) corduroy bag

A pair of beloved corduroy pants that I couldn't bear to let go, even though they were way too large and way too old...A wish for an everyday bag that would fit my needs exactly..  A  video tutorial on ehow.com...all came together in this refashion project.            

   

The before pic



a deep breath and using another bag to get an idea of size...





removed the fly and added a 4inch strip for a base



cut lining from scraps using the bag as pattern



I found adding a zipper pocket pocket to the lining to be fairly straightforward after some help from several online sources. I struggled quite a bit with attaching a zipper to the top of the lining. The old right side-wrong side (of the lining) confusion compounded by the fact that the zipper I used was an invisible one, so the right side/wrong side of that is reversed!

This scene from one of my favorite movies played in my head as I had yet another date with the seam ripper..

Billy: But you graduated law school six years ago... what have you been doing since? Vinny:Studying. For the bar.

Stan: That's a lot of studying.

Vinny: Well, to be honest with you, I didn't pass it my first time out.

Billy: That's ok, you probably passed it the second time.

Vinny: Nope.

Stan: Third time's the charm?

Vinny: Not for me it wasn't. For me, six times was the charm.   



  

re-used the fly zipper for a pocket and
another zipper recycled from a skirt for the top of
the lining

For me, four times was the charm :-)



lining sewn into the bag






oh and I added a flap after my husband called
just the plain bag creepy

 My grandpa had a satchel / travel bag he would always have with him. It was made of some khakhi colored canvas type material, from what I can remember. It was made to his specifications and although I don't recall how it looked inside, I imagine it had a place/pocket for everything and everything was in its place. He called it अनुज्ञा, a sanskrit word that means "something that is always with you".. it remains to be seen if this bag will me my अनुज्ञा.



what's left of the pants.. I thought that should be
included in the spirit of  recycling

Stripy love take 2

This is simplicity 2054 again. I didn't make an effort to match the stripes on the sleeves. I let the stripes run vertically as a design choice and thought the cutout would show better. The placement of the cutout is slightly off, but works ok if I bunch up the sleeve a bit at the shoulder.. which is what I've done for the picture.