How to reline a suitcase

I wanted to give my sister in law some sort of case to hold all those special things from her bridal shower. (blatantly stole the idea from Big Sis). So I went out with the hope of finding one on my garage sale adventure. Any experienced thrifter will tell you that rarely do you find what you are looking for when you go with a goal. You never find what you are searching for, but 20 things you didn't know you wanted. Well as luck would have it,  I found exactly what I had in mind. FOR ONE DOLLAR! Total score. P.S. the rather unique trailers on the county island by my house are my favorite places for garage sales because they know their junk is worth more sold than the rich people who think they should get $5 for a vase they don't want anymore.

This one was especially cheap because of the yucky inside. So I ripped it out. literally, a good pull was all it took to get the staples and trim off.

Glued some batting in with spray adhesive, trimming the extra on the edges

Next I cut out some new fabric I had laying around, using the old stuff as a rough guide.

Using hot glue, I made a line of glue along one bottom edge and pushed down the fabric. I glued down one side at a time, stretching the fabric just enough so it would lay smooth.

Then I folded the fabric over and glued it along the top edge, one side at a time, ignoring the corners.

I did the corners last and just bunched the fabric together and folded it over. I added lots of hot glue.





I chose to glue some trim along the edge. If you use an organza ribbon like I did, you have to be careful to keep your glue lines neat or they show through. I did the top edge of all the ribbon first, then the bottom after.

Next I made the panel that covers the hinges. Presumably, this prevents your clothes from getting pinched when you close the case. The original had some sort of flexible cardboard. Interfacing would have been ideal, but that stuff is pricey and I wanted fast and cheap so I used felt. I cut it long enough to stretch across all the back hinges.



Then I covered one side of it in fabric.

Then I glued the edges to the case.

I made of bow of ribbon and it was ready to go!

 

The whole project took about an hour from start to finish. I know because I started in an hour before I was supposed to leave for the bridal shower :) Sometimes it is faster just to go for it then to research a how to online.

It was also perfect filled up with all the wedding flowers. Since the handle is on top, the pretty paper boxes remained uncrushed.

I fell so in love with how this one turned out I didn't want to give it away. I'll have to look for another. Or in keeping with garage sale karma, try not to look for another one :)