Making a homemade dress and shirt bag

May 26, 2010

This weekend I went yard sailing.  I love, love, love yard sales!  There is something about the welcoming gesture of a sign on a lawn saying, "Come!  Come walk on our grass and look at our things.  Come talk to us and poke around our stuff.  See if we have something you need." 

When I go yard sailing, I try to start with a goal in mind.  This is an attempt to keep me focused and provides an added challenge that I enjoy.  This weekend I was hoping to find an extra Pack N Play.  We don't have any more cribs in our home, instead Quinten sleeps in our walk-in closet in a Pack N Play.  As handy as this is, I would love to have an extra for grandma's house or to have on hand when friends come over.

Unfortunately, I didn't find a Pack N Play.  However, I did find a Leap Pad complete with several books that would be perfect for car rides.  The downside to all the books and cartridges that came with it was the challenge of how to keep them together and accessible.  

I pulled out my bag of left over clothing scraps from my memory tree and homemade bookmark projects and found a really fun and simple solution.

For Ashlyn's bag: I took a summer dress and turned it inside out.  Lining up the shoulder straps and with the back zipper lined up on one side, I sewed a straight stitch about half way down the dress.  Next, I cut off the bottom section of the dress below the seam and inverted the dress right side out.  Along the top edge of the dress and under the arm holes I sewed the top shut.  Now the "dress purse" is ready for its contents.  Simply unzip and fill!

*Had I wanted a purse that didn't completely close I would have left the top open and would not have needed to use a dress that had a zipper.

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Below you can see the zipper that was originally on the back of the dress but is now on the side of the purse.

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For Hunter's shirt bag: I buttoned up a shirt and turned it inside out.  Next, I sewed a straight stitch along the top and bottom of the section I wanted to use as a bag and cut off the extra fabric above and below the hem.  Then I calculated how wide I wanted the bag to be and sewed another seam shortening the width and positioning the buttons along one side of the square.  After cutting off the extra fabric, I unbuttoned the bag, turned it right side out and re-buttoned.

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To access the contents, unbutton!

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The bags are certainly are not perfect but they were fun and the kids loved seeing the way their clothes had transformed into new helpful bags.

If you have a sewing machine and some to-small clothing perhaps you can find a way to re-purpose them.  Let me know what you come up with!

Maybe next week after my yard sailing I can write instead about the great selection of cribs I discovered down the road;)!  By the way, I am starting to play around with a new iphone app to help me find local garage sales.  Don't you just love technology!?

Mom 4 Life. Now that Ashley owns Mom 4 Life, I am focusing my energies in homeschooling and asking God to use me in other areas.

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