The Coolest Purse (Repair) Ever

 Hello Readers. I went to a clothes swap and found this wild and wonderful bag. It was a Betsey Johnson purse. Betsey Johnson is famously wild and wonderful as well. This bag was a little beat up. Could I repair it and clean it up? I wanted to try. 

Am I repair expert? No. 

She is cute but she has been through some things. 

The black parts of the bag are literally falling apart. The vinyl is peeling off the bag and it looks bad. 

The piping is in the same condition. The bag is sturdy and the seams are strong but the outer layer of the bag is looking rough. 

I don't have any specialty tools. I thought I could peel the vinyl off with tweezers. 

The tweezers worked really well. I picked and peeled all the loose vinyl off. It took a little while but it was not difficult. 

I also used my little sewing scissors to trim the loose edges 

These were great for the piping around the bag. 

The little bits of vinyl started to pile up. 

I used some glossy black acrylic paint. This was thick paint and it was great for this project. Watery and runny paint would be too messy. 

 

The areas that I peeled off revealed a gray-ish color. I started painting with the black paint and tried to cover the gray color. I wanted the black to look like it did before I peeled it all off.

I painted everything that I had peeled off. 

After 1 coat of the paint it looked like this. I touched up a few spots to make sure it was as dark and glossy as possible. 

I thought it looked good when it was all finished. But I wasn't quite done. This bag came with a short black nylon handle.

I found this bag at a thrift store months ago. I bought it because it was a bargain jut for the strap. 

I thought it went really well with this bag. 

I love these kind of adjustable straps. They just clip on and now this can be a shoulder bag or a cross body bag. 

This was a fun project. I was happy with the way the bag looked when I was done. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

***Year End Update***- I love this bag. I just used it yesterday.

 

Using a Belt as a Purse Strap

 Hello Readers. I love having a long cross body handle on my bag. It makes my life so much easier. When I go out I am usually carrying  a lot of things (Water, keys, mail, sunglasses, phone, coffee, snacks...) in my hands, in addition to my bag. If I can throw my bag over my shoulder I am going to have a much more productive day. 

This idea takes less than a minute and looks great.

No long handle? How sad.

 

This is too much stuff for my hands to carry. There must be an easier way! 

 

All you need for this quick restyle is a bag and a belt. The longer the belt, the longer you can make your strap. Grab a belt from your closet or from a friend, husband, boyfriend, son, mother, neighbor, anyone willing to share their belt with you.
 

Here is the miracle solution! A belt, this one didn't match my bag exactly but it coordinated well enough for me. The longer the belt, the longer the strap can be. You decide how long you want it.

Step one: Put the belt on one shoulder and pull the ends across your body diagonally. this is how you would wear the bag so that is where we will start. 

Second step: Grab your bag. Put the end of the belt through one of the handle rings. Pull the end of the belt across the side of the bag and push it up through the other handle ring.

Third Step: Pull the end of the belt through the bag handle rings enough so that you can buckle the belt. The belt needs to be buckled so that it will be secure and stay on your shoulder.

 

That is it! This new bag is all done. I love that this is more useful but it doesn't alter or damage the bag or the belt in any way. 

 

I adjusted where the belt buckle was by pulling the belt through the handle rings more and more. I wanted the buckle in the front but you might want it in back. Whatever is comfortable for you is fine. It's your bag, do whatever you like. 

 

 This idea won't work for every bag but it can make some bags much more useful when you have loads of stuff to carry. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun and useful for yourself.

***Year End Update- I never took the belt off. I like it so much that it has become a permanent part of the purse.