Dress Of The Day with Angela

  DIY belt for a caftan. Photo by Angela Lansbury.  This belt is made from the handles of tote bags, removed from paper tote bags either torn and discarded or no longer needed. Usually you can unthread the end of the handle. You only need to disentangle one end of the handle and you can usually pull the other one out. Occasionally I cut the bag in order to remove the handles.  If you want to preserve a bag handle in the bag in order to carry the bag, you can thread one of the handles diagonally from one side to the other. In the dress, I first tie the two handles together at the ends with a slip knot. You could sew them or fix them with glue or nail varnish. You can tie the rope handle around your waist, if you have an hourglass figure, which I do. However, there is always the risk of the belt hanging lopsided or falling off in the street and being lost or dirty. So I made two slits for the belt with the edges sewn like button holes. The handle is a soft gold coloured twi...