How I Upcycle coffee bean bags into usable tote bags

1 large tote bag takes 21 small coffee bags to complete. Here is a basic photo step by step of how I make it happen.

Step 1

It all starts with a bag full of coffee:)

Step 2

Use the coffee to make yummie drinks.

(yes I made these)

Step 3

Take the empty bag and cut off the top. I do this over and over and over.

Step 4 

I pretty much hate this step

This step takes the longest. I have to lay out all the coffee bags and tear off each sticker. The thing is the stickers don't come off easily. In fact I tear off as much as I can then I have to use Goo Gone to remove the rest of the sticker. This is a messy and lengthy process. I tend to get little cuts under my nails from the sharp edges of the stickers and I dirty a lot of rags. Just to give you an idea of how long this takes, last night I worked on this step for about 5 hours and came out of it with about 60 perfectly clean ready to sew bags.

Step 5
This is what the bags look like once I get all the stickers off. In this picture I have already sewn some pieces together.

Step 6
This is what the front and back panels look like. There's a lot of lining up and measuring of the bags when sewing these parts together.

 Step 7 sewing
This is where I sit and sew and sew for hours. I will usually spend a full day doing prep sewing. This is where I sew the little bags together to make the panels or sides of the tote bags. Then I sew on the velcro and handles. I make sure I have enough parts for each tote and then sew the bags together on another day.

Here I am sewing the piece that covers the velcro. It just looks nicer this way:)

 Step 8
This is where I start piecing the all the parts together. Here is a bag with most of the sides put together.
ALMOST DONE!

I WILL ADD MORE STEPS TOMORROW! 

Learning curve

I have added some fun links. Can you find them?

It's been a very busy two weeks in my part of the world. Fun, but busy. I enjoyed a lovely vacation with my husbands family. It was a time to relax and enjoy the company of family especially my amazing nieces. Then it was back home and straight into the first week of school. Parents of school aged children know exactly what I'm talking about. It can be a bit hectic. 

I have been working hard learning a new and exciting skill. The art of espresso :) I work at an amazing coffee shop. The people I work with are truly great and I'm enjoying this learning curve. It's no secret that my husband and I are coffee lovers (my husband was a Barista before he joined the "family" business). In fact as a family we will be starting a coffee blog in the next month. We will be sharing our experiences at coffee shops all over the world. I'll keep you posted.

I found time (late nights) to finish some new bags and post them on my Etsy site. 49th Parallel coffee roasters changed their packaging not long ago and I haven't had the time, until this past week, to create some new bags with them. I really like how they look and function. 

I am still working on my first How To - upcycled project. I hope to have it posted soon! Have a great week everyone. Looks like the weather lady is forecasting rain. Sounds like a good week to me:) I love the rain.

My first How-To coming soon

I'm working on my first how-to tutorial! We are heading out for a last minute end of summer family trip this week so I won't be able to post it until September 9th. Until then here is one of my favorite websites for DIY stuff. I hope you like it too. There are lots of really great How-To videos.
http://www.youtube.com/threadbanger

Also one of the original Threadbanger crew Corinne has a new website called Craftovision. It's totally worth checking out.  http://craftovision.tumblr.com/ I've been inspired by Corinne to push myself to become more creative and open minded when it comes to Upcycling and Repurposing.  The possibilities seem endless!

Enjoy the websites!

sewing zombie

I've been sewing for three days straight. My leg is a little numb and I could use a good shoulder rub. I've been working on new fun designs for my Repurposed coffee bag bags. I'm having a lot of fun pushing myself to be more and more creative.
Here are a few early pictures of some new stuff.

 I know the pictures aren't that great but I will take new ones and post them soon. This is just a sneak peak. Hope you like them.
What kinds of images would you like to see on the bags? I'd love to hear.