Purse Revamp

I have a new addiction. I wandered down a crafty rabbit hole, and landed at http://www.epbot.com/

So much crafty goodness! Well, I decided to take an evening, and try one of her tutorials. Specifically, this one:  

http://www.epbot.com/2016/04/diy-transforming-purse-is-last-bag.html

It looked so... me. So, I went to Ross, and found the perfect bag to upgrade:

Isn't it perfect? The vinyl is so similar to the fabric I used on my tail that I had to put a scrap of that in the shot for comparison. The only problem is, I don't like the strap. It's stupid thin, and had a buckle and was super annoying. So, following the tutorial, I got rid of it!

I tried to take "during" photos, but the evening light in the kitchen is so yellow... they looked horrid. I only kept the most necessary ones.  So above is the 2 sides now complete with swivel clasps. I decided to keep it with shiny silver, since the zipper is very noticeable in the same metal. The raw edges where I cut the strap were bright, so I colored them brown with a marker, and now they blend right in.

I used an awl to pre punch holes for sewing, and the strap is so thin that snaps or rivets are unreasonable, so I had to sew everything - which still wasn't that much at all. I used these pins to help keep the holes lined up while I was stitching them together.

This is the finished cross body strap, which I honestly don't see myself using very often, and the three, yes, 3, needles that snapped while stitching these together. I pre punched the holes! ARGH! 

Here is the finished bag, hanging on my belt loops! It even looks fine with my favorite Wonder Woman belt. :)

All in all I am highly pleased. I will try and take some pictures in daylight, where you can see it better. 

As a side note, I was going to age the vinyl to try and make it look more like real leather, but found that the high texture of the material didn't lend itself well to that particular upgrade. I will have to get crafty and think of something...