Remake the fake

I'm not gonna lie, I had a fake Kate Spade bag back in the day and quickly learned it was not only inexpensive but cheap. Once you see your brand of trickeration everywhere, it's no longer a bargain.
Mix the faux with quality shoes and jewelry and the ruse might just work. However, a teenager with bargain store shoes, who has never visited a major city but carries a "$1200" Louis Vuitton handbag . . . yeah, it was probably purchased from a car trunk and not a LV boutique.

A few years ago, Louis Vuitton offered a Stephen Sprouse inspired graffiti print. Not at all a fan of the look, I was still intrigued. How about my own graffiti designer bag, Leezra style?
Well, y'know people give me stuff and last week, my friend Ann offered me her Canal Street fake Louis. While I intended paint text, a cake stencil screamed at me from the paint drawer.

Can you have your cake and eat it too?

As in, can you buy a fake and make everyone else believe it's real?
I think not.
Not when everyone else is in on the secret.








Shut up the shuttin' up, cake hole.

Craft supplies

When I opened this box, the contents reminded me of the crazy dried chicken parts at exotic food stores in Chinatown but upon closer inspection I realized that my order for 15 pairs of bamboo purse handles had arrived. Yay eBay!

Already have fabrics selected for my next handbag binge. These are from my last binge.

Craftster purse swap

The Craftster purse swap is over and here is the bag I sewed for my partner. She likes geometric prints and I had such a tough time finding fabric! Finally found this, it is an upholstery fabric, I think, because it unraveled like a beast. The pattern is modified from tiny happy's shoulder bag tutorial. My swap partner likes a really long strap because she wears her bags across her body and I was pondering how to make an adjustable strap . . . .then it occurred to me to use the braided leather suspender/braces given to me by Elizabeth.

People give me stuff, I tell ya! And I use it! Well, Elizabeth didn't quite know that she (via her husband) gave me this, she presumed I was taking her boxes to Goodwill but instead I took out a couple items then completed the drop-off task, as promised. Anywho, I modified tinyhappy's strap, cut the back strap from the suspenders and sewed on some vintage brown buttons with cat eye beads atop for flair. Yay, adjustable straps!

I love using things for other than their intended purpose but more proud that I actually remembered that I had the straps!

Monogrammed bag, gotta love it

My friend Chrysanthemum took her pretty quilted handbag to the local monogram shop and looka what she brought back!

As the Preppy Handbook states, "Why carry a bag with someone else's initials when you own will do?"

Bamboo Handle Handbag

Found a sample sale of upholstery fabrics for $1 each and combined it with Mom's quilting fabric stash along with a freebie Ultra Suede sample. Embroidered a fleur-de-lis outline on the Ultra Suede for an easy-no-turned-edges inside pocket.

Tote bag (grocery bag pattern)

Tried another tote made from grocery store bag pattern that I found on www.craftster.org.
This one is the ultimate in recyclable goods! The outer and liner fabrics are repurposed cotton shirts. Liner fabric (plaid) former front pocket now serves as a handy little pocket for your cell phone or money stash.

Dog themed cigar box purse

• Wood cigar box



• Decoupaged canine images



• Nylabone chew toy used as handle, not pictured
  
  
• Brass corner protectors

Doe a deer, a female deer - a handbag

First project completed from a pattern!

Upholstery fabric remnant not large enough so

polka dot fabric pieced

to top of handbag.

Embroidered on both sides of bag plus inside pocket.

Tote bag completed WITHOUT cursing and tears

Hello Craft People!

Found a tote bag tutorial on http://www.craftster.org/, downloaded the instructions and sewed up a cute shopping bag from fabric scraps that evening. It turned out so cute that I am carrying it as a purse! The next time around, I will lengthen the handles to comfortably hang on my shoulder.