I had some cushions on the couch that used to be in my sewing room which I transferred to the new day bed that we brought to replace the couch. 

The covers that were on the cushions didn’t go with the new quilt I made for the bed and I had some fabric left over so I decided to make some cushion covers to match.

When I took the old covers off, I discovered that one of the cushions had a bright pink fluffy cover which I also removed as I wanted to use the zip in my new cushion cover.  Once I had taken the zip out, I was left with the cushion cover.  I had an idea to use it to make a shopping bag and I knew just the person to give it to for Christmas.

I grabbed some felt to embelish the front and some fabric from my stash to use as the lining and handles for the bag.

The cushion cover was a bit wide so I grabbed another bag I have that I like the size of and used it as a template to get the right size for the bag.  I cut off the excess, leaving a seam allowance.  The scraps went into the scrap bag that gets passed onto a friend for her son’s preschool to use.

I cut three hearts out of the felt and sewed them to the front then sewed up the sides.  I cut out the fabric for the lining and the handles from the fabric and sewed them up.  I put the lining into the bag and added the handles and pinned together, ready to be sewn.

I was thrilled with the final result and it is in the Christmas pressie box.

Now for the second project.  I sewed the zip into the back of the cushion cover, made the front and sewed both pieces together.  I inserted the inner and all done.

I am pleased with how both projects turned out and nothing was wasted so it was a win win all round!