Upcycled Jeans turn into a Gingham Tote

Have you got your hands on a copy of Handmade Style by Anna Graham? It is such a wonderful book!  No matter what your level of sewing skill is, this book has great projects for everyone. I received my copy at the beginning of last summer and am slowly working my way through the projects.  Anna is one of my favorite bloggers and she writes the blog:  www.Noodle-head.com .

One of the patterns in the book is the Gingham Tote.  As soon as I saw it, I knew I needed to make one!  I also knew the bag had to be denim as I heart denim.  I love up-cycling with old jeans and learned this technique from the book, Reinvention by Maya Donenfeld.  (Excellent book, by the way) Since there are always old jeans floating around the house, I decided to give it a go.  The denim fabric was made by cutting two pairs of  jeans by their seams and then sewing the pieces together.  Then I sewed with a red stitch on the jeans to reinforce the seams and have them lay flat.  I like the way the red stitch pops a little on the denim color.  From there I proceeded to make the tote bag. Tile Canvas in Navy by  Cotton and Steel was used for the outside pocket and for the lining Essex Yarn Dyed fabric in Flax, by Robert Kaufman.  I had some jute upholstery webbing and used that for the tote handles. The Gingham Tote pattern has a long adjustable strap but I modified that as I’m not a big fan of adjustable straps. I really LOVE how this bag turned out, how sturdy it is and I have used it everyday since I made it!