Upcycled Shoe Storage Ruffle Tote Bag
This project brought together 3 of my favourite obsessions interests – sewing, upcycling and making bags!
Ruffle tote bag with upcycled pockets
This tote bag started life as a humble Bookstart bag which we got free with some books for my son (Bookstart is a UK charity which gives books to all children – see this link for more info). It was lovely to have a free bag but it was starting to look a bit faded and in need of a funky revamp, hence the ruffles!
I added simple ruffles using this excellent tutorial from Crazy Little Projects and finished it with a piece of ribbon I already had (which by a miracle matched the fabric perfectly!)
The shoe holder part of the process was my own innovation: I wanted some pockets so I could find things more easily when using the bag as a handbag/purse. I already had this fabric hanging shoe storage which originally came as a detachable addition to a tallboy wardrobe, but I have since removed the wardrobe’s cover and hence wasn’t using this shoe hanger. I simply cut it to size and sewed it into the tote bag. Happily two shoe pockets fitted perfectly on each side of the bag. I love it when a cobbled-together plan works out perfectly!
Inside pockets made from fabric shoe storage
So there you have my upcycled ruffle tote bag – along with some of my other bag projects…
ShabbyShe 