From Old Favorite to New Favorite!

So a couple weeks ago I noticed this, in my favorite bag.  Right on the bottom.

This bag has been through it all, and I love it!  

It's nice and roomy for a pack of wipes, a diaper and my typical purse things.

Then last week, this happened.

I was devastated. I kept telling myself to move on and either make or buy a new bag. I even had a conversation along the lines of "Your new bag will have a lot to fill!"

But then when I went to throw it out, I decided why not make a new bag out of the old one?

I've been eyeing this pattern, and even printed the pattern to start a new bag, but then I wondered if I could transform my old into new. And what was the worst that could happen? I mess it up and HAVE to throw it out?  

And sure enough it was doable. Like maybe a half hour of my time doable!  

Here's how I went about changing my old into my new bag!

I cut the lining along the seams, so that I could resew them later. Then I cut the "boxed" part of the bag apart until it looked like this.  (This is inside out)

The tear was in the area near where I added my logo in. 

Next, I went ahead and printed out my pattern.

Using the pattern I lined it up with top portion of the bag, keeping in mind where I had to cut the bottom to get rid of the torn section.

Once cut, I zig zag stitched and then straight stitched the bag back together. 

I was surprised at how easy my machine when through the fake leather!

Once I sewed my bag, I had to trim and resew my lining. 

I sewed my lining from the inside, left a space to turn it right side out and then top stitched across the entire bottom. I felt like sewing each seam twice would help it stay together.

 

And that's it! Now my bag looks like new! 

(I also just stitched my handle connector back together!)

I'm so happy with the results! It took little time at all, and I got the same shape as the bags I've been eyeing! 

Have you ever sewn a handbag before? Or upcycled one?