Upcycled bag / purse tutorial ....or... Mean Green Blue Jeans! (pt 4)

The idea for this project came to me in the middle of the night and is the reason why I now keep a notebook by my bedside! I couldn't stop thinking about it and ended up writing it down so I wouldn't have it floating in my head (or floating OUT of my head!)  In fact, my husband had to threaten to TAKE the notebook away from me because the ideas wouldn't stop comming out of my head! The pics are almost in the form of a tutorial, but , I tend to not work from patterns a lot, so, help yourself to copying it, but be prepared......no measurements!

Look...A pair of jeans...I think I'll make a purse...a HUGE purse!

But, I don't want it to be bulky, so I'll cut off these parts...

And these...(maybe these will be inside pockets when I'm done!)

I think I'll leave the pocket liners.....yeah, i will!

These two paisley fabrics that I got from a resale shop will work!

Hey, these cut-outs make great patterns for the fabric....I'll just cut the fabric bigger for seam allowances!

One from the pre-quilted paisley for the outside and one of the cotton paisley(cut facing away) for the inside of the purse!

I'll fold under the edges and iron them....then I'll attatch them with a zig-zag stitch!

Not until I fold and iron the inner fabric so I can pin and sew them at the same time though! 

I will lay them over and under the jean and sew along the edges.

Sewing around the front pocket insert is tricky, I'll have to sew the inside and outside seperate here so I dont sew through the pocket!

Whew, that was tricky!

I could just sew the bottom together and then sew off little triangles at the edges to make the bottom, but the CIRCLE is what was in my head last night, so thats what I'm gonna do!

I'm folding the circle twice to find exact centers.

Four center points are needed.

Now I'll attatch and sew the bottom. (wish I'd had my serger out here, then I could have finished the edges nicer!)

I kinda forgot to take better pics of the part where I sewed on the straps and belt, but here are some close-ups!  I just cut long rectangles, sewed, and inverted them.  Then I attatched them inside the pockets in the front and just under where the belt would cover in the back.

I did the same for the belt, but I didn't sew it down, I just laced it through the loops and knotted it.

Here is the back end of my gigantic purse.

And here is the front! (modeled by my oldest daughter...which makes it look even bigger!)

I would LOVE to see your version, so comment with a link to yours!