One Ugly Bag!

Recently my good neighbor and friend from Canada came over to dish and she had this bag. At first sight it is just way way past it's prime. Well, yeah, it is. But a closer inspection made me fall in love. We proceeded to dissect all that is great about this bag and the next thing I knew she gave it to me. My plan is to take it apart and make my own. I'm telling you, it was bag love. I felt like I took in a stray puppy.

First off, yes, the bag is filthy. I was definitely doing her a favor. My friend is pretty well off, but her Scottish thrift would never allow her to just chuck a bag, dirty or not. But to give it another life as a pattern for an even better bag, well that was OK. Between you and me, I think she is coveting a new bag from me as part of this process but that is OK too. I really owe her a nice bag.
Check out the strap. It is a stuffed, twisted tube. I love the way the large beads cover up the knot made after the tubes are passed thru the eyelets. The eyelets go thru a pleat in each corner of the bag. I thought this was a sturdy treatment that gave the bag some nice girth.
I also really like the zipper treatment. It is installed in a placket which then is stitched to the bottom edge of the interior facing. That makes it sit way down in the bag but gives the bag some width that isn't evident when the bag is closed.
Then there's the gusset, nice shape and made of metallic leather. I am thinking of using the same leather gusset and dyeing it. We'll see on that one. The sides of the bag have deep pleats that fit into the gusset.
And let's not forget the glitz! While the bling factor on this one is way over my levels of taste, I do like how one can emphasize a print with a little beading, little being the key word here, at least for my interpretation.
So all, in all, I love this filthy bag. I hope to get going on once my contest bags are done. It will be labor intense with cutting it apart, etc. but I think it will be worth it. Keep ya' posted.......Bunny