Patchwork shoulder bag made from fabric scraps

Artist or hoarder? That's what I think whenever I see the tower of large plastic bins in my sewing room closet. It started innocently, with a simple desire to repurpose thrift shop garments and save the world by transforming jeans, kids jumpers, designer skirts, and men's dress shirts into tablet cases and bags.

So far, so good. But then there are the leftovers. The scraps. Every piece big enough to be part of some other project (like stuffing for pillows and cat blankets). But there's so much. So I did something I never imagined I would ever do. I made a quilt. Well, not a real quilt. A patchwork bag, out of this old pattern, which I'd gotten years ago. It's not my style, but I was hoping I could make it work.

I dove into my scrap fabric bin and grabbed everything blue I could find. I cut the pieces into 4" x 4" squares. Over a hundred of them! Then I sewed them into strips.

Following the pattern, I sewed the strips together.

I used other leftovers for the details.The waistband from a pair of jeans became the closure, and a label adorned one of the shoulder straps.

For the lining, I made do with the only large piece of blue fabric I had on hand. Can you say "moooooo"?

The pattern didn't call for it, but I added a zippered pocket, using blue and white cotton from a man's dress shirt.

Here's the final bag. I like the distressed, hippie vibe. But the final test is how it hangs on my shoulder, out in the real world. I'll report back!