DIY tote bag: straps.

remember the tote bag i made? (hint: that's a link. i know they don't show up that well, I KNOW. sorry). well i finally put straps on it. (hee hee i said straps on).

i had been looking for a super long leather belt to cut in half and use, but after combing thrift stores for the past month to no avail (could only find regular length belts, or long ugly ones) i decided just to go with a possibly-just-long-enough fabric one that i found at the beginning of my search. it went with the fabric pretty well and i wanted to finish the GD thing.

so first i took all the hardware off the belt, to get as much length out of it as possible. there is nothing worse than trying to jam your arm into too-small tote bag loops when you're wearing your winter coat. ok, there are probably worse things, but it's pretty annoying. #firstworldproblems. i digress.



after cutting the full length of it exactly in half, i singed the cut ends with a lighter so they wouldn't unravel. then i stuck the end of each strap between the lining and shell, pinning, adjusting, re-pinning, and finally being satisfied with placement. thing is, when you make something yourself, it can be perfect for what you want. that's the beauty of it. anyway, i wanted the ends to be stuck down juuuust far enough that i could sew around the top twice without sacrificing any strap length. GOD THIS IS SO BORING, ARE YOU REALLY STILL READING?



then i sewed around it once, then did it again, for extra strength, making sure to sew through the straps each time.





and there she is, in all her glory, sitting on my windowsill beside my desk with my lunch in it, which i had clearly already partly eaten by 10am when i took that picture.



kind of a beauty, yeah? i like it.