I love cruising a thrift shop looking for previously loved garments made from fantastic fabrics that I can recycle/upcycle into something new and fun. I found this Bandolino jacket this past summer that had to go home with me:

I loved the fabric and all the details–the tulip sleeves,

the two front pockets with flaps,

the covered buttons and all the piping outlining everything. I love this jacket and wish I could wear it! Alas, it’s two sizes too small, so how can I turn this into a fun new bag?

I started ripping seams and realized the sleeve ends turned upside down would make great front and back pockets. Then everything fell into place. This became a very  pocket-centric bag with a total of 8 pockets. I dug into my stash and found some home dec burgundy fabric with woven-in mini stripes and ended up with this:

The front and back pockets are the sleeve hems:

the side panel pockets are from the back of the jacket:

I was so happy to be able to keep the original piping intact! (I love piping…) So there are four pockets on the exterior.

I used the two flap pockets from the front of the jacket on the interior as slip pockets with the original pocket hidden under the flap:

These are the four more pockets to make the total eight.

Finally, I used scraps and a left over button to create the removable flower brooch for the front of the bag:

This went off to to the The Artistic Attic today to hopefully be adopted by someone who loves the look as much as I do!

Next up–an upcycled denim skirt.

Thanks for stopping by!

Lorraine Slavkovsky

by Lorraine