Sometimes my taste in art changes over time, and sometimes I’m drawn to paintings that don’t quite fit my aesthetic taste, but still have some interesting qualities.  Goodwill is a great place to find unusual paintings, and a good place to bring the paintings you no longer want

I find most people don’t consider that paintings are just waterproof canvas.  This makes a great material for bags!  So this week I will show you how to make a simple clutch out of those unusual Goodwill paintings.  They are very inexpensive and even if they aren’t great for your living room, they might be perfect for a handbag

You will need:

-Paintings from Goodwill (stretched canvas or rolled canvas are fine, but nothing painted on a wooden board)

-Extra wide double fold bias tape (from a sewing store)

-Optional: small d-rings and a leather bag strap from a Goodwill bag

-Optional: Golden GAC 1 medium to prevent cracking

If your canvas is still attached to a stretcher, take a pair of scissors or an X-Acto knife and cut the painting off of the wooden frame. Now you have a piece of fabric to work with.  Depending on how old the painting is, it may be prone to cracking.  To help prevent this you can apply a thin coat of Golden GAC 1 medium to it. Cut your fabric into a rectangle (mine is about 16x10in).  To make the top triangular point of the bag, fold your fabric in half, long ways (painted side on the inside), and stitch the top edge about ¾ of the way to the end.  Press this down (the fold side of your seam is the top point of the triangle) and sew around the top edge to make a rounded, triangular point. Turn this right side out. 

Next create an interior pocket by sewing a strip of binding tape to the top edge of a rectangle of canvas and fold the side and bottom edges under. Pin to the inside of your canvas and stitch around the sides and bottom to hold in place.

Next you can either first sew on a few d-rings at the back of the bag (for a purse) or just go ahead and sew a piece of binding tape to the edge of the bag opening.

Then sew biding tape all the way around the edges of your bag.  Folding under the bottom edges at the bottom of the bag and stitching to reinforce. If you attached d-rings, you could go ahead and clip on your bag strap now and you are finished!

Goodwill is great source for unusual materials that will make your projects stand out.  Particularly with back to school coming up, you could use painted canvases to make great pencil cases or binder covers.  When you shop at Goodwill spend some time in the art section and see what inspires you. Your purchases will go towards funding local job training and other support services for your community, so you’ll feel great about your purchase, and about the new bag you can show your friends!