Bags from Upholstery Samples

My husband brought home a pile of beautiful upholstery samples from the interior decorator at his firm.  She gets new ones each year, so the old ones go the trash (sigh), to a maker like me, or (thankfully) to the local creative reuse store. 

On a tip from A, I made one square into a sleeve for my coupons (fold in half, sew up one short and one long side) and made another sleeve for a pair of sunglasses.  Because these are upholstery samples, they are sturdy and somewhat stiff and the edges are finished.  So fast and easy to work with!

Then I needed an evening bag for a treat at our local opera house.  My friend took me to a show her fiance didn't care to see.

I used 4 shiny upholstery squares to mimic the popular zippered clutch - it's nothing but a rectangle with a zipper on a long side, folded in half to carry.  I lined it with some odd geometric knit scraps that I found in my stash (from a bag of odds and ends my aunt gave me, I think).

I made the tassel from the scraps of leftover upholstery.  I hope you can see the colors - three shades of coppery brown and one of lavender.  I topstitched the joining seams of the squares and the zipper so they would lay nicely.  I used all regular settings on my machine and no pins - simply held things firmly in place as I sewed (you could use binder clips or clothespins).  I'm very pleased with this clutch!

All evening clutch photos by Genevieve! 

We slipped down to the beach for a day already this summer, and I planned this next bag as I tried, yet again, to carry and conceal my legal tender in my bathing suit and pocket-less yoga skirt.  Silly!  But sometimes it takes a while to hatch just the right solution, right?

So, I made this bag the right size to carry my cash, credit card, and phone when I run up to the boardwalk to fetch fries, milkshakes, pizza, and whatnot.  The loop is elastic so it stays on my wrist by itself as I haul all these things back to our umbrella while fending off seagulls.  I'll put the bag to the test next time we go the beach, but I'm pretty sure it will fit the bill.

So far, these upholstery samples are proving to be very helpful!  Our local creative reuse store has samples like this for very cheap, and most interior decorators will be throwing out scads of these every year.