Vintage Suitcase Redo

I love old suitcases. But sometimes the remnants of their previous owner's uses are still attached.



In this case, the Sky Queen (how cool is the name!!!) spent some time as a tool box. There was a mysterious stain on the bottom resembling oil.



So I made a new bottom out of cardboard and covered it with some striped fabric. The new ties are twill tape that was laid in the suitcase before the new bottom was pushed into place.



Now I just need to figure out how to tighten up those pockets. The elastic is really baggy, but the pocket is sewn to the lining which is glued into the suitcase. I don't want to rip the whole thing apart. Maybe I can thread a new piece of elastic between the rows of stitching and hand tack it at either end.