This idea goes way back to when my husband and I were dating. He gave me a handbag for my birthday, made by his mother out of a pair of his old cargo pants. I loved that bag! Not just because it had such a strong connection to him, but because it was so practical, casual, and resourceful! Of course this birthday bag was well loved and well used, to the point that it was almost thread bare. I still have the bag, but I’ve had to allow it to retire. When my husband recently snagged his cargo shorts, taring the pocket right off, he suggested I make myself a new bag, but smaller and even more practical than the one his mom had made for me.

Onto the mending pile the shorts went. I’m terrible about getting to projects right away! I always feel like there’s some other busy work or “important task” that needs to be done first. I’m learning to be better about making time for myself and the projects that interest me. Time to be creative and unwind.

I dove into the project eventually and cut the pockets apart. There were 2 large pockets and 2 small pockets. My first thought was to have the 2 large pockets as the exterior of the bag, then sew the 2 small pockets onto the inside of the bag. As I laid it out, I realized it was getting much too bulky, and a much larger handbag than I was wanting. I’d been shopping for a cute, very basic bag for a long time and never found anything I liked. I just wanted somewhere to carry my coin purse, cell phone, and keys, plus maybe a couple other small items on those days when my clothes don’t have pockets. I’ve always been a very simple girl and never really been one to carry a purse. But boy is it annoying when you don’t think you need a shopping cart at the store, your small hands are already full of above said items, and then you find that you want to stock up on yogurt because it’s such a bargain!! This is how I’ve been kindly motioned to the front of the line on several occasions by other shoppers who felt sorry for me. Rather embarrassing to say the least! Anyhow….back to this simple little handbag. Little is key here.

This pair of shorts was going to make two handbags, not one. One small bag, and one medium size bag for those days when I need to carry a bit more. I took the two small cargo pockets and examined how they could be sewn together. I had very little seam allowance around the edge of the pocket because of how the shorts had torn, so I decided to pin the front of the pocket out of the way as best I could on both pockets.

Next I laid the pockets face to face and peaked all around the edges to be sure I had room to sew them together without catching the fronts of the pockets.

Turning it rightsize out, I had a good visual for what the final bag would look like. I did a quick search on YouTube to learn about making linings for homemade bags, decided how I was going to do it, and dove in.

Easier said than done! My first lining was much too big. I took a beautiful fat quarter from a set that I had for making a cat quilt. It was all I had to work with and I’m not one for running to the store to get things for a project. Once I start, I just want to work with what I have. If I think ahead and go to the store before I start, that’s great! But once I’ve started, I just want to get it done with what I’ve got on hand.

I folded the fat quarter in half so I would have two layers, then set my stitched pockets down for size. I cut the fabric the same size as the exterior of the bag, then sewed them together.

Without turning this bag, I poked the lining inside my pocket bag. Then I carefully turned down all the edges and pinned in place.

Before I could sew the top edge to finish off my bag, I had to make the strap. I really don’t keep much around so I didn’t have scraps of anything to use. After some thought, I pulled the piece of binding tape out of the waist band of the shorts, folded a piece of fabric around it and sewed it together. Believe me, this took HOURS to turn right side out. LOL!

Once I finally got that sewed in place, the bag was basically finished. I did take those buttons off later and replaced them with magnetic snaps for easier use. I still haven’t decided how to seal the main pocket shut. I had actually intended to use the magnetic snaps for the main pocket, but forgot to sew them in before sewing the lining in. Oh well! I have a couple ideas, but for now, it’s just open. Makes it easy to poke my phone in there and just the right size too!