Repurposing: Thirty-One Gifts purse into an small electronics case

A wonderfully generous friend and book club lady, gave me a lovely Thirty-One Gifts purse. I liked its slim profile and adjustable strap immediately. Until I tried to carry it as purse. Who am I kidding? I am not at a point in my life, where a slim purse will do. Maybe when I go out to dinner with H or a night on the town with friends.

I need a super-sized, shoulder murdering, carpet bag. I still seem to be carrying around everyone's stuff. Plus I tend to travel with a notebook and pens and sunscreen and many other "just in case" items.

Nope-- no slim purses for me.

But I like it. It is so pretty. Admittedly it has been very pretty hanging on the closet door. Until Friday. I was packing for my trip and I needed something to slip my kindle, headphones, iPod and related cords into. My camera too... I wanted all my electronic gizmos, in one bag.

Then it hit me. My Thirty-One Gifts purse, would be perfect, with a few modifications.

 It really is a cute bag. But with a super long strap.

And the interior pockets will be perfect for slipping in my camera, iPod and cords. With my kindle, it will still be slim enough to slip neatly into my carry on bag.

At first I thought I would use my seam ripper and just remove the strap altogether. That however was a no-go. As a well constructed bag, it has the straps nicely attached.

Then I decided, well a bit of a strap would be helpful.

So I cut the straps and then sewed them down, careful to double them over, to avoid fraying.

I created a carrying strap using the hardware already on the bag.

And a tab detail. I used a zigzag stitch as it will show.

I am pleased with my quick repurposing and cannot wait to try it out. I think it will be just perfect.