My First Tutorial: Make a Cuff from a Boot!

This is my first tutorial and I'm so excited! As some of you know who read my blog, I have a love affair with cuffs. I started out making fabric cuffs to give as gifts back in 2009. These were fun and easy to make. When my husband's leather coat got torn, I then then graduated to making leather cuffs.  For more about my cuff journey, read this post from 2009. 

This cuff I made from my old boot a long time ago.

My sister loved it so much that I decided to make her the same one from the other boot. I thought this was a great opportunity to take pics of the process to show you all. These are really easy to make and they open the door to a lot of possibilities.  So here goes:

Here's my boot. I re-heeled it several times but the last time I went to the shoe repair, the owner told me there was no hope. I noticed that it had such a cute design detail and I immediately decided to make a cuff out of it.

I believe these are leather uppers. The first thing I did was to cut the top off, cutting around the zipper.

  I then turned it around and cut all the excess seaming . This will make it easier to sew.

This is what you are left with at this point. Make sure you leave enough room on the top and bottom to fold in and stitch. Also note the tiny seam on the middle bottom. I decided to leave it in and just fold over which made it a bit difficult to get it on but I didn't want to lose the finished look it gave it.

Fold in and stitch the top and bottom. I have a factory machine and used a #18 needle. Make sure your machine is equipped to sew leather.

Since it already has a snap, I used that for a closure and stitched the other end.  Like I said, I left that  previous seam. This is what it looked like after the sewing. I guess you could also totally cut it but I didn't want to lose the finished look. Do you think my hand fit through it? 

Yes it did! With a little shove.

My sister and I wearing our cuffs. Now we're ready for action!

I hope this inspired you to turn those old boots into something useful. You can also look at interesting details on purses and belts. The possibilities are endless!  Tell me what you think.

Camouflage Jacket to Camouflage Tote Bag

Face it people, sometimes it feels like there is a war going on out there, and you need to be armed with your camouflage tote bag!

This is a recent reconstruction that I wanted to share with you. It's a camouflage jacket that I turned into a tote. I love the way it came out and I decided to sell it in my, shop. 



Before picture




Camouflage Tote Bag, $30.00.
Available at http://www.nelesc.etsy.com/

 I transferred the pockets to the bag,  two in the front and two  in the back and I lined it with recycled denim. There are more pictures of it in my shop so check it out and tell me what you think.