Caitlin Phillips of Washington DC is promoting literacy. Okay, well.. the appearance of literacy. Rather than reading that text book or classic novel, she's suggesting you use it to hold some cash and perhaps a lipstick or two.
By taking vintage hardback books, removing the interior pages while keeping the cover intact, adding fabric, handles, hardware and a cute little label, she's made a handbag for Fashionista Bookworms.
Sizes vary as does the purse's capacity. The wider the spine of the book, the more the purse will hold. She pays distinct attention to the colors and rarely uses the fabric more than once, making each creation truly one-of-a-kind. Her collection includes everything from reference books, textbooks, classics and teen novellas to how-to books. She even makes an effort for the fabric interiors to play off the titles or content of the book as in the case of her Do-it-yourself Encylopedia purse and the Singer Sewing Book purse (shown later in this post).
Here are a few examples:
Janson's History of Art:
China: Lands And Peoples:
Nancy Drew. The Mystery Of The Fire Dragon:
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire:
Ulysses:
War and Peace:
Jane Eyre:
Stories from Dickens:
Do-It-Yourself Encyclopedia:
The Singer Book Of Sewing:
Caitlin makes all the books herself by hand and has no guilt about cutting apart old books. She says that most of the ones she uses have been previously damaged in some way. She sells her books at her Etsy store as well as directly from her website. Prices vary.
See what stock Caitlin presently has for sale here.
Or shop her Etsy store here.