Monday, July 18, 2011

DIY Purse to Camera Bag

It's been so long since I've had a craft project to show off that I'm writing this even though I really need to be canning tomatoes and packing to move today.

I've carried the same bag since shortly after Jude was born. It's a great purse with lots of pockets and dividers that made it a perfect diaper bag and purse in one. It's still in great shape and I still love it, but I have been itching for a nice camera bag for a while. Unfortunately, we weren't going to have hundreds of dollars to shell out on one of those bags any time soon.

I was excited, then, when I spotted a huge, adorable yellow purse at my mom's house the other day and she told me I could have it. (She's so generous... and actually a generous friend had just given it to her!) It only had one little zipper pouch and no dividers, so I knew I'd have to come up with something to protect my camera from leaky sippy cups and hot wheels.


























I did some quick googling and found a fun tutorial at Tales of the Wife. I gathered my materials, pulled my sewing machine out of a suitcase, and got to work.

I'm a very fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of crafter, and this project was no different. I got peel and stick velcro, and I'm going to have to eventually sew it down, because it doesn't stick to the fabric very well, but it'll do for now. Behold, the finished project:


 There's a pocket on one side to keep my keys handy:

And a pocket on the other side (you can't really see it, you'll just have to trust me) for my cell phone:

And a cell phone picture of it packed with a snack, sippy, camera, diapers, wipes, and a medium-sized Bible (It really does zip like this, I promise):

I'm so excited... I love it! I used a different, very thin kind of foam that doesn't have as much shape, but also doesn't take up as much space in my purse. I had to velcro the top corners to the purse because the side "walls" weren't really sturdy enough to stand up to much on their own.

Check out her tutorial for how to make your own!

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