Project 365: Day 59- My new purse

Day 59: February 28- I rarely drive down Main Street in my town.They have the all stoplights timed so you have to stop every block, plus most of the way you can only drive 20 mph. I don't feel like I am getting anywhere! Friday happened to be one of the rare occasions that I took Main. On the way home from work, which happens to be on Main St., I had to stop at the post office. Usually, I take a different route, but it made sense this time to change directions.

I past the Et Cetera Shop, a local second hand store and immediately knew why I had come this way. I saw the cutest mini skirt in the window and knew I had to have it. Sometimes I watch Clinton and Stacey on TLC's What Not To Wear, so I know I'm not supposed to wear mini skirts after a certain age; not to worry, I had a completely different use for it in mind. I saw a new purse! I can't imagine wearing a skirt this short any way. It is only about a 1/2 an inch shorter than the original length as a purse!

I have a huge tub full of clothes that I want to upcycle into something else. I was looking for ideas when I learned about Betz White on The Cloth Diaper Report. Her etsy shop, blog and books are filled with ideas for using recycled materials to create something else. So I checked with my friendly, local librarian (aka my sister-in-law Amy) to see if our library had either of her books: Warm Fuzzies and Sewing Green. Our library didn't have either book, so she put in a request and the library ordered them. One of the projects in Sewing Green, is a denim skirt made into a bag. I am still planning on doing that project as well, so this was sort of a practice. I didn't even use the book, I just sort of winged it.

I stiched up the bottom, boxed the corners and voila! I decided to go ahead and line the inside with an old button up shirt my mom had given me. I am still thinking I would like to add some more pockets, which is part of the reason I went ahead and lined the inside. I had used the pant leg of a pair of jeans for my shoulder strap. That part took the longest. I added a flower over the button on the back and now I have a new purse! It cost me about $3.