tiny happy

making journal

recent posts

about

‘tiny happy’ was a journal of my handmade life from 2006-2025.

recycled tote bag

DSCF8154

DSCF8143

I made the tote bag above from some of my current favourite vintage fabrics. The botanical print was kindly sent by Cori in Portland, Oregon and the brown wool was from Rachelle. The handles are made from recycled leather in chocolate-brown. I made the bag as a sample for tonight's class I'm giving at Fabricabrac in Newtown, Wellington. You can read more about it here or here. There will be coffee and tea, as well as wine. Pretty tempting, huh. If you're a Wellington local, I'd love to see you there!

And you can see that I have the fabrics picked out for another bag which I hope to make before the class this evening, if I get time, that is. The print on top is a gorgeous silky fabric that I found at Asia Gallery a while back. It was originally a table runner, I think.

Some happy things: we had these for dinner a few nights ago, along with some sprouts, feta and hummus- so good!

You can find some great links to free Japanese sewing patterns here.

Here are some amazing handmade dolls. Skills.

Have a relaxing weekend! I'll see you again next week.

Posted in

12 responses to “recycled tote bag”

  1. tote bag Avatar
    tote bag

    Well,I like it ! If you need more information at: http://www.sobeautifulbag.com/

    Like

    Reply
  2. Dee Avatar
    Dee

    so many lovely things in this post: 1. the contrast on the first bag, 2. the botanical fabric – gorgeous! 3. those doyley dolls – ohmy!
    have a lovely weekend Melissa.
    ~d.

    Like

    Reply
  3. Ed Avatar
    Ed

    Sadly i am not a Wellington local otherwise I would be at your class tonight with bells on!
    It sounds so inspiring 🙂
    Hope it all goes fantastically Melissa
    have a lovely weekend too
    Ed x

    Like

    Reply
  4. louana Avatar
    louana

    hope your class goes well and you have a happy weekend! xxx

    Like

    Reply
  5. Rebecca Avatar
    Rebecca

    Thank you for your words of wisdom about making bags at the fabribrac in Newtown tonight. You are an inspiration. Thank you
    Becs & Shirl

    Like

    Reply
  6. Chontelle Avatar
    Chontelle

    Beautiful bag, beautiful fabric. Hope the workshop was fun. xoC

    Like

    Reply
  7. jenni Avatar
    jenni

    Thank You Melissa & hope you had a great night at your class (Lucky students!) x

    Like

    Reply
  8. rachelle Avatar
    rachelle

    That bag is gorgeous! Well done. Can’t wait to see what other clever things you create with your mother lode of wool fabric. xxx

    Like

    Reply
  9. Chloe Avatar
    Chloe

    Hi Melissa, I love those recycled leather handles and want to add them to my next tote, do you know where I can find them or were they a random find, thanks so much, Chloe 🙂

    Like

    Reply
  10. tinyhappy Avatar
    tinyhappy

    thank you very much for coming! i’m glad you liked the class 🙂

    Like

    Reply
  11. tinyhappy Avatar
    tinyhappy

    hi chloe, sorry i forgot to reply for ages! the recycled leather handles were from my local fabric store (fabric warehouse, wellington) but last time i was there, they had sold out. in the past i have also reused leather belts and also found recycled leather scraps on trademe. good luck!

    Like

    Reply
  12. susuc Avatar
    susuc

    You have a very good site, well constructed and very interesting i have bookmarked you hopefully you keep posting new stuff.Fine information, thanks to the author. This work is really useful and significant.Resources like the one you mentioned here will be very useful to me! I will post a link to this page on my blog. I am sure my visitors will find that very useful.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a reply to louana Cancel reply