leather suitcase makeover

so in the last few months i've been on a thrift store mission. everytime i would go into a salvo or goodwill i would search the bag aisle for some vintage or leather suitcases. but whenever i would find something remotely cute i would open it up and there would be an ever present musty smell. i took a couple chances on a few suitcases and tried to get rid of the "old" smell. no matter what i tried it never worked.

but the other day my luck changed. i went to ReStore for my second time and again found a treasure. a cute leather suitcase (that coincidentally matches my purse exactly)!

the suitcase (and shimmy)

it's the perfect size for a couple day trip, and has a soft body so it's more flexible. i got it for only 3 dollars and... hooray it doesn't smell! but i wasn't to thrilled with the inside.

somewhat tattered, uninspiring

So me and shimmy set to work to re-line the inside. the fabric i used was from a pillow case that had skateboards on it, that a friend had given me.

shimmy helping. sort of.

after figuring out how to sew the lining in the right shape i got the hang out of it and finished it completely in a couple hours. i highly suggest explosions in the sky pandora, as good, relaxing crafting music.

taking a cat nap after the hard work

thumbs and the finished work

i realize this would have been a good project to make a tutorial for, but i didn't realize until i was already half way done.

new mission: weekend roadtrip.