"I Can Make That!" Marc by Marc Jacobs Lace Tote

Friday evening, Drew and I went to the mall to buy him shorts. While I need to watch my spending, I was more than willing to window shop. At one point, I was walking around Saks waiting for Drew when the handbags caught my eyes. Marc by Marc Jacobs to be specific. Lace. It looked like stiff lace and I had to get a closer look. I gazed, touched, examined the bag then looked at the price. $198 for a piece of plastic over lace. I thought to myself, "I can make that!" So I did.

(If interested, you can purchase the actual bag here: Nordstrom)

This was really just an experiment. This bag isn't my style and I don't really have a place to wear it. I just wanted to see if I could make it. My mom has a laminator so when I went home to work this past weekend, I cut out some lace and laminated it. There is a black and tan version and a white version. I didn't have lace like the actual bag, and didn't want to purchase any so this was all fabric already in my stash (the bottom and strap fabrics are also stash fabrics).

I couldn't make the size of the actual tote because the laminator can only use sheets 8.5" x 11". The tote was made from 3 full sheets, two for the front and back, and one for each of the sides (1 sheet cut in half).

Laminating.

I worked on the black first, making sure my machine could handle the plastic, and it did nicely. The only issue I faced was sewing on the bottom. It was difficult to move the plastic to where it wasn't hitting my machine and getting into the corners.

The white bag was very hard to photograph, it does look "clearer" in person.

 The last picture is of the bag filled with my wallet and makeup bag so you can see it is somewhat transparent. So it isn't the exact replica, but I did save $400 (for two bags). I don't think I did better than Marc Jacobs, but I'm pretty happy with the results. Let me know what you think!