Julie: I've been copying - Desigual bags

*Copy*
I love the Spanish fashion brand Desigual, I find it so creative and inventive that to date it's influenced three separate crafting projects of mine.

First was a scrapbooking page featuring the wonder of my Desigual skirt, followed by a greeting card inspired by my partner's Desigual trousers ... while today it's their eclectic range of bags which has been inspiring me.

When I spotted these bags in store there was only one thing stopping me sprinting to the till to buy them ... their price tag, at something like £60:00 it certainly made me pause to think.

And whiler I truly loved them [I even did that whole circling-around-and-around-the-display-trying-to-justify-the-cost type manouvre] ......

... I finally left the shop declaring "I could make something like that!"

So I did ......

*Paste* My starting point was a canvas tote which was free with some promotional thing at work!

Then, I managed to intercept some threadbare jeans my partner was throwing out, cut off the legs and stitched the rest in place around the bag. I used a combination of machine stitching - for strength and hand stitching - for decoration: I kept the flies in working order and now they're part of a useful working pocket: Some of my favourite [saved-for-best] fabrics decorate the handles - inside and out:I trimmed a pocket with some lovely Webster's Pages fabric ribbon, the colour test strip from one of my fabrics and some decoarative brads:
I found a pack of 12 crocheted coasters in a £1 shop and experimented on it with some heat transfer dyes left over from a class given by Efemera Ink, to create this focal point: And had great fun adding a bit of retro bling with these studs!I'm so pleased with the end result! However it actually might not be the end as I can see myself altering and adding to it forever!

So there it is - my own take on a Desigual design .... which hardly cost me a penny!

And ... seeing as how I have something I'm happy with but which didn't cost me a thing ... I'm going to pay it forward ....

*Giveaway*
I'm giving away:

• one brand new, plain canvas bag
• pieces of the fabrics I used [I'll even go and track down those denim legs I've got stashed somewhere]
• a crocheted coaster and
• a variety of embellishments

... so that one of you can create your own bespoke tote too.

All you need to do is leave me a comment below making it clear you want to win!

The closing date for entries is 23:00 [BST] on Sunday 16th May and the winner - chosen at random - will be announced ASAP afterwards.

Thanks for reading,

Julie :)