'New' Bag!

It is pretty rare that I do a project for myself, especially this time of the year.  But this guy was begging for my attention.

Let me start from the beginning, I need a pair of knee high brown boots.  I am super cheap so I don't really want to spend the money for a new pair, in addition...  I need them in their prime season so it is unlikely that I will find them on SUPER sale.  So one day when I was in the post office, I decided to venture into the trendy second hand store a few shops down in hopes that someone with huge feet like me just happened to get rid of a pair of barely-used-chocolate-brown-pleather-high-heel boots.  No such luck but I did find the cutest bag ever!  Unfortunately it was a fake Dolce&Gabbana bag (and yes I am totally American and pronounce Gabbana like Cabana, and no matter what anyone says, I am going to keep pronouncing it like that).  #1 problem with the bag = I don't do logos...  I don't wear name brands and if I happen to have a name brand item of clothing, there must be no exterior indication of said brand or I won't wear it.  Not sure why I am like this but I am, and have been for a long time.....  I remember my aunt giving me a small Coach bag for my birthday when I was in high school and she almost had a heart attack when I ripped of the logo.  #2 problem with the bag = it is fake (and not even a good fake)...  I am not in the habit of supporting China's "copycat" industry and I am also a firm supporter of free trade.  However, I really loved this bag and I feel that by buying it used, I am not technically supporting the industry, some may disagree.... but the bag was in my signature color.... what else was I supposed to do :-)  ???    Here is the bag.

Cute right?  Well, the exterior is in really good condition but upon further inspection, the inside is well used and kinda gross.  I tend to be a bit of a germ-a-phobe at times and the evidence of someone else's germs and more obviously, the oil from their hands was all over the cheap lining.  I was more than grossed out.

So what did I do?  I replaced the interior lining, the lining in the 3 exterior pockets and almost as importantly, the logo.  I picked a Tula Pink fabric (that I LOVE), I rearranged the interior pockets and I hand sewed them into the bag.  Attaching the linings went pretty slow considering I was hand sewing it them...  but I wanted to use the original holes made from the original stitching so that 1. you couldn't tell that it wasn't the original lining of the bag and 2. I didn't want to perforate the pleather anymore.  I originally planning on getting a brooch to match and pin it where the logo had once been, but I couldn't find one that I liked.  I did however just happen to have an iridescent button in my button collection that picked up all the colors in the bag.  I just tacked the button on in case I ever do find a few brooches to match.  I LOVE the bag and it was totally worth the effort.  What do you think?

Check out the stitching....  there are 2 parallel seams at the top of the bag, the very top one is the one that I sewed in by hand and the one just underneath it is original.

The stitching around the exterior pockets is mine too.