Wednesday, June 1, 2011

'tote'-ally!

I made a few tote bags recently (similar to these ones I made last year as teachers gifts). All the crafting/sewing blogs I read come up with cute names for the shirts/dresses/bags/whathaveyou that they make. I wracked my brain for days and came up with... nothing. Hence the lame post title, "'tote'-ally". I would never make it in the advertising world!

I used dark gray canvas for the body of each bag and white cotton webbing for the straps. For the trim and lining on the first bag I used a Dwell Studio pillow case (still in it's original package) I found at Salvation Army.


The black and white polka dot fabric is Huevos by Michael Miller.


The floral fabric is by Brother Sister Design Studio available at Hobby Lobby.


The straps are sewn onto the outside of the tote which creates three exterior pockets. The inside has no dividers, just one large tote with a boxed bottom. Perfect for the library, a trip to the park or even the store.

Let's just pretend the webbing matches perfectly at the bottom, shall we?

The first tote is for my youngest sister, a belated birthday present. She is a new mom and you can never have enough bags when you have a newborn, right? It always amazes me how much stuff you have to cart around for someone so little!

The second tote is for Liam's end of year teacher gift to his 2nd grade teacher.

The third tote is for one of you! I am finally making good on my promise to have occasional giveaways. Check back later in the week (or maybe Monday. You know I'm a lazy blogger, right?) for the official giveaway. There will be another cute little item to go along with the tote!

13 comments:

Margaret [Mags] Maurice said...

These are "tote'-ally" awesome! LOVE IT!!!

Anonymous said...

Please, please, when you have time, add this to your list of tutorials! These are great and I'd love to do something like this for my son's teacher!

Tammy @ she wears flowers said...

These are so classy! I love the way you did the strap--it is so much sturdier that way than other ways I have seen. I think I will make one for the teachers this year--I haven't been able to decide on a gift. Thanks for sharing this great idea!

jt said...

Cute! I've only done a gusset once, and I totally screwed it up. I need to be shown the way.

jen said...

i bet the teachers at Liam's school fight over who gets to have him in class. Not only is he such a polite and smart kid, they get a snazzy gift at the end of the year - you always make such cute things for them!
i like the totes - so many uses!

Kathy W. - One Brown Mom said...

I have been searching high and low for a great teacher gift. I think i'm going to copy this idea. Is the bag lined or unlined?

Molly Krauss Smith said...

Sweet! So cute!

Erin said...

thanks all! i will try to do a tutorial soon. i need a tote for myself after anyway!

WOM-MOMS said...

Please provide instructions soon! I love that you used a fabric (pillowcase) from a thrift store! Very thrifty of you!

Lori
www.wom-mom.com

Vivian said...

Super cute tote! LOVE your blog!

Ginny said...

I agree, would love a tutorial! I am in desperate need of some new shopping/library bags.

Kathy said...

So last night I made my own version of this bag. It came out great and is was so easy. I made it as a Thank You gift for my son's teacher. My version is fully lined with apple fabric. This is my way of giving an apple to the teacher. Thanks so much for the inspiration!

Erin said...

@kathy- i love that you used apple fabric! what a cute idea!

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