Thrifty thinking

With a daughter headed to college this fall, I have decided to concentrate on being more thrifty. Soulemama and Wee Wonderfuls' creative and thrifty ideas offer lots of inspiration, as does Simple Sparrow's Use What You Have April challenge. So...here's my attempt at a handbag I saw pictured on Flickr, that I really liked.


The linen floral fabric I used was from my daughter's sixth grade graduation. It was such a beautiful dress, I never had the heart to get rid of it; for six years it's been hanging. The lining fabric I had leftover from another project as well as the elastic for the top casing. The chain handle had me stumped for awhile--I couldn't figure out how I was going to duplicate the handle in the picture. Then, one day at the store I saw it exactly--it is a choke collar for pets. Not something I would have come up with on my own, but it works.
Total cost of the bag...$1.20