Tutorial Tuesday - Re-bags!

This is actually more of just a concept than a tutorial, since i'm sure you guys could figure out how to do this from looking at it ;) I have been loving all the heavy duty canvas shopping bag/ totes i've been running across at garage sales. I use them for everything... craft projects, swim stuff, shopping, sand toys, etc., and especially love the ones with a pocket on the outside for my water bottle. What I don't like is all the ugly logos that most of them have on them. Now I am just covering the logos up with recycled wool patches, and turning them into Re-bags! I used my sewing machine to sew the recycling symbol onto the patch, then hand stitched the patch onto the pocket of the bag. If you like the idea, but don't want to make the patches, Victoria Velting sells cute recycled wool patches in her Etsy shop.

Here's the bag I started with. I am not even sure what that was from, a gym maybe? Anywho... it needed some recycled wool!


Here's the patch I made, in progress...


...and here it is sewed on the pocket.



Much better, eh?

Off Topic Thursday - World Food Programme Feed Bag

Want to end world hunger? Buy a cute tote bag! I did! The bag you see above (the one I ordered) is available on Amazon for only $35. Your purchase of this World Food Programme FEED bag feeds one child in school for one school year. Isn't that amazing? They have more bags available in different styles, that each do something different and wonderful.

This simple tote, at only $25, includes a donation to provide 3 school meals and 3 local language books to children in the developing world.


Were you planning to send more to Haiti? For every FEED Haiti bag purchased, 50 school meals will be donated to the UN World Food Program's School Feeding initiative.

For more ways to give, make sure to check out FEED's website!

Georgie Girls Originals

If you haven't noticed yet, I love purses & bags. I'm on the verge of needing a 12 step program for it, so when I saw these totes I think I drooled a little. Not only are they recycled wool, and beautiful, but they are so practical! As a busy mom, I love a good sturdy tote bag. You can find these beautiful bags in Georgie Girls Original's Etsy shop. They will be adding mittens and larger tote bags soon, so keep checking back! You can also follow them on their Facebook fan page for updates!

Guten Tag Bags

I love these simple, cheerful, and well made bags & pincushions! This creator of cheerful recycled woolly goodies has 2 Etsy shops, Guten Tag Bags and Guten Tag Fibers.

Reclaimed wool sweater yarn week, Dervish

I love these little tote bags from Etsy shop Dervish. They are made from reclaimed yarn, and called Resweater bags, named after my shop... ok, ok, they aren't, but a girl can pretend ;) Even the adorable embellishments are made from recycled wool.
This beautiful poncho is made from a reclaimed mohair blend yarn, and can be found at Beadle in Toronto.