Mending the Jute Bag

This is a Township Bag that my sister got for me in South Africa several years ago.  It seems to be a coarse woven jute and although it's two layers, I used it so hard that holes were worn into the bottom corners and the handles were being reduced to strings.

I actually did this mending project a while back, but the photographs I took did not show the mending well, so I tried again with the photos this week.  I'm not sure they're better, but I'm not spending more time on this because the bag itself works beautifully with its sturdy mended spots.

I took some of the stiff yellow fabric from the skirt with backbone and reinforced the handles. I love the texture of the machine stitching.

Then I made a box-shaped bag bottom with several calicos and hand stitched it onto the bottom of the bag with lots of various colors of perle cotton.

My Township Bag has lots more years in it now!