Don't Throw Away an Old Umbrella — Sew It into a Kids' Backpack

If your child's umbrella breaks (unfortunately, that's a pretty common problem with kids' umbrellas), don't rush to throw it away. My niece's umbrella broke — the one with her favorite character, Masha from the cartoon. There were oceans of tears and tantrums over sending it to the trash. In the end, I decided to give the umbrella a second life, and give the kid a bit of joy.

Take the umbrella apart and sew the panels together into one piece of fabric.

Fold the resulting piece in half and stitch it along two sides.

Cut 2 pieces, 10 cm each, from the strap webbing. Attach a length adjuster, like on a regular backpack.

Attach the strap webbing to the bottom of the backpack.

Cut a flap for the top of the backpack. If the pattern is large (as in my case), try to preserve a full section of it.

Cut a lining from a sturdy material that will help the backpack hold its shape.

Cut the bag and the flap separately. Also sew a hook-and-loop fastener onto the front of the backpack and onto the flap. Leave a small opening in the fold at the top for the drawstring that will cinch the backpack closed. Sew all the pieces together and turn everything right side out.

Sew the flap onto the backpack. At the same time, sew on the strap webbing needed for the shoulder straps.

And this is the backpack that came out of it.

Does anyone else have ideas for what to do with an old umbrella?