five bags made from salvaged vintage dresses

[stephielou]

Since I really just used the dresses as fabric, I thought this might go here & not in recon...


These were really fun to make. They were made from dresses which couldn't be worn or sold due to some kind of damage, so they were all designed around how much fabric could be salvaged.

Details...

#1 - This was a dress that I got for $1 at an estate sale. The dress was tiny and had stains all over it, but I fell in love with the fabric so I had to have it! It inspired this whole "collection." I've had the green fabric I used for the lining for about 10 years, I bought a ton of it at the thrift and haven't used it until now.

#2 - The eyelet was a dress that I tried to sell twice with no bidders. The top half of it was kind of matronly (which is why it didn't sell), so I cut it off and made the bottom half into a skirt. This is what was left from the top, plus that trusty green thrifted fabric.

#3 & #4 - This one has an old dress as the lining. I thought it was too obnoxious to use for the outside, but I like it as an accent. The outer fabric for both of this is wool that I inherited from my sister-in-law's mother-in-law (?!). I don't think she's sewn since the 70's, so I'm guessing it's vintage too.

#5 - this & #1 are my favorites. It's hard to see the pleats, but they were part of the dress - it was an accent at the right hip, but just below that was a massive stain. Here's another pic, sorry it's kinda crappy! The color in the first pic is more accurate.

I hope to make more bags from this fabric. It was tricky to work with because it's silk & I cut the back on the bias. I've never worked with bias-cut silk before. Once I stitched on the non-fusable interfacing, it was no problem though.

I'd love to get some feedback on these. They're really the first bags that I've created completely out of my head. As a self-taught sewer, I'd never have been able to figure any of this stuff out without the help my beloved crafsters!

[toque]

wow they're gorgeous!  way to go on recycling vintage dresses!  I really like the cut-out handle ones

[AbbyOzzy]

Fabulous!!! They are all just beautiful! I have to say that #2 is my favorite.

[my_idiosyncrasy]

guh, wow! those are superb! I love them all! such a great use of old clothing, that I'm sure look much more flattering as a pattern on a bag than a pattern on a body.

[runnermom100863]

Oh wow!  They're all fantastic! 

I love #2, and then #1...I know you said you did them w/o a pattern, but would you ever consider doing a tut on the second bag? 

You've done such great work on all of these...just beautiful! 

[rozekitten]

Of course, #1 is my favorite because it is just completely outstanding.  All of them are amazing, and you must have taught yourself to sew a long time ago because you have awesome skills.  Each on of them looks so great and perfect.

P.S.  That's a great idea about the fabric.  I love Estate Sales and I used to go all of the time, but I figured if I had to find room for one more vintage dress I would go insane.  This is a great way to find ann excuse to go to them again.  Thanks!

[LouraPalmr]

ooh, ooh #2 & #4 are my faves. i'm gonna have to try that old dress method out sometime! great job!!

[stephielou]

I love #2, and then #1...I know you said you did them w/o a pattern, but would you ever consider doing a tut on the second bag? 

Thanks runnermom! I actually do draft patterns for each of these, that way I'm sure I'm cutting the lining to the same shape as the outer fabric. I use tracing paper to figure out the largest possible dimensions I can cut, which makes it fun because I have to figure out how to make that limited area into something interesting.

Regarding #2, and a tute, it's pretty similar to stargirl's cutout handle bag, as are #1 and #3. The major difference, aside from the obvious shape, is that stargirl uses a piece of coordinating scrap fabric to back the cutout, and I just put the lining and outer fabrics right sides together without using another fabric. Does that make sense? So #2 is a cutout handle bag where the cutout is... um... football (?) shaped, then I bind the top with a bias strip cut from the lining fabric. That way the "handle" looks like it's separate, but really it has all the stability of the multiple layers that make up the entire bag. Hope that helps!

[juliesnider]

Another vote for 1 & 2!!!  LOVE them! 

[tomatojane]

Taking my two passions, vintage clothes and handbags and combining them is my dream craft! All of them blow me away! Awesome!