Repurposed Vintage Tablecloth Cross Body Tote
Hello everyone! Happy Tuesday! Today I am going to share with you one of my favorite new tote bags! This fun and easy summer cross body tote is made from a fabulous old shabby tablecloth and features a luscious aqua leather strap with rivets. As many of you know by now, I just adore vintage tablecloths! I snag most every one I can get my hands on. I love to take an old tablecloth that has holes or stains and give it a new life! This particular tablecloth I knew would make a great spring or summer tote! The colors are fantastic! I found this gorgeous leather online at Endlessleather.com and knew it would be perfect for the tote! This is a pretty easy project as well, and can be completed in an hour or so, so it is perfect for a weekend diy!
Here’s What You Need:
*Cutter Tablecloth (one with stains, holes, etc)
*Lining fabric (I used some blue linen I had laying around)
*Ruler
*Scissors
*Leather Lacing 10mm ( I got mine Here)
*Leather Lacing 3mm (I got mine Here)
*Leather punch
*Small Rivets ( I found mine at Michaels)
*Vintage button
Instructions:
The first thing you want to do is measure and cut your fabric. Mark your width at 18″. Now go up and mark your height at 17″. At the top right and left measure in 2.5″ on each side. Now draw an angled line from the mark at the top to the bottom of the side seam, so the shape you end up with should be 13″ at the top width and 18″ at the bottom width with a 17″ height. Measure these dimensions on both the tablecloth and on your lining fabric and cut two of each. Now with right sides together, stitch the side seam, bottom seam and other side seam of the front and back tablecloth pieces, leaving the top open. Do the same thing with the lining. Press open seams. Grab the bottom corner of one side of your tablecloth bag outer. Match the side seam to the bottom seam, making a triangle. Measure down from the tip of the triangle at the seam 2.5″ and draw a line across making a triangle shape. Stitch along this line backstitching at the beginning and end. Now clip off the triangle to a half an inch away from the seam. Do the same thing for the other corner and the two corners on the lining bag piece. Once you have the gussets, press your pieces a bit more. Now, turn your tablecloth piece right side out and insert it into the lining piece, so that the right sides of the fabrics are touching. Pin around the top. Now, stitch around the top of the bag leaving a few inches in the center of the back of the bag open for turning. Pull the main tablecloth fabric out through the hole in the lining. Push the lining back down into the main bag and press the top. Cut a small piece of the 3mm leather lacing for your loop. Loop it and staystitch it between the outer and lining fabric in the middle of the back. Then Top stitch 1/4″ around the top of the bag. Fold your top over three inches and mark where you want your button to go on the front of the bag. Hand sew on the button. To add the strap, measure how long an area you wish the bag to hang with a tape measure. I measured 42″ long for mine. Cut your strap to length. Measure your holes for your rivets on the strap ends 1/2″ up from the bottom and then two more each a half inch apart from the previous, and then punch your holes with the leather punch. Measure and punch your holes in the side seam of your tote beginning at 3″ down from the top, punch holes. Insert the rivets into the leather and through the bag and then place the cap on the back. Hammer the rivets down flat. And now you have a fun tote to carry all your essentials for spring and summer!
(Sadie didn’t understand why she couldn’t come outside and help…)
I absolutely LOVE how my bag turned out! I love the cross body style, and I love how it folds over, giving me security, but I do have the extra room if I need it. I love how easy this bag would be to customize to your style and taste just by changing up the fabric and leather colors! It would make a fabulous gift for your favorite gal too! So next time you come across a shabby tablecloth with a fun print, snag it for yourself and make this fun cross body tote!
Happy Crafting!
This is absolutely precious!! I freakin
Love this bag. Vintage Sweetness all the way. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Thank you so much Laura! It is so easy to sew and it has been a really great bag. It holds a lot without being too large. Do hope you will give it a try sometime 🙂
Great post! I love cross-body bags, especially for shopping. The tassel and little buttons on the strap make it look wonderful. Thanks for posting.
This is gorgeous! Thank you so much for the tutorial – it’s simple, but looks oh so professional. It’s really kind of you to share.
Really love this! I’m going to be on the lookout for a vintage tablecloth!
I have that same tablecloth in the cedar chest that was my Mom’s !!!
This is one of my favorite tablecloths ever!
I like this tote! It’s looks great!!!
I’ve been looking for the right bag to make this spring and have just found it! Thank you so much – I love this idea.
Thank you all so so much! I really do hope that some of you will give this fun bag a try! And if you do, send me pics! I’d love to see, and am always happy to share with my followers 🙂
I love this, and I am going to give it a try.
Thanks for the inspiration.
This is gorgeous thank you for sharing. Such an eco project too and a fab idea for repurposing a treasured piece of fabric.
What a cute project! I love it so much that I decided to feature it in our roundup of tote bags! Check it out here: http://www.favecraftsblog.com/tote-bags/
Have a great day!
Thank you so much Julia! You are so sweet 🙂 I will go check it out!
the tassel is a great accent on the bag. i just discovered your site and it has my imagination soaring! one question regarding the market bag – where do you get your label for the bag? the only sites i’ve found look like something my grandma would use. lol. looking forward to following your blog. thanks, deb
Thanks so much Deb! I am delighted that you like my blog! The labels I use I made myself and had them printed at Spoonflower. If you skew your design layout to 45 degrees it will print on the bias of the fabric which will not unravel as much. You can fit a bunch of labels in a fat quarter size. Thanks again 🙂
Hi Ashlee! I featured a project today inspired by your bag. Thanks for providing the tutorial! http://www.always-a-project.com/2013/06/my-new-traveling-bag.html
Aw, thanks! I will go check it out 🙂
where did you get your labels?
I actually made them using spoonflower. I designed them on my computer with photoshop elements and I had them printed at spoonflower.com. I printed so they would be on the bias grain. They fray a little bit after a while, so they are not perfect, but I love them 🙂
This bag is adorable. Thank you for sharing your talent.
I absolutely LOVE this idea. I’m teaching myself to sew again after 30+ years, so thanks for the tutorial!
Thanks! This is a great project to get back into sewing with, it’s really quite easy, and it makes a good base to use if you want to add pockets or zippers and such. Hope you have a blast making your bag!
I see in all of the comments everybody saying how cute this bag is and I have to agree because at this moment I’m trying to make this bag but I have to say your directions are horrible I mean horrible, like you skip some steps. Any chance you have a YouTube video that I can watch or better directions?
Hi Kathy! I’m so sorry it is giving you trouble. I looked back through the instructions and I haven’t missed any steps. If you can tell me where you are stuck I will do my best to help you. I am planning on doing some video tutorials of my popular posts this year, but I don’t have any as of yet.