Month: May 2013
DIY Totes, Part 2
I recently made 48 bags for our daughter’s wedding. The first 29 were all unique, with different embellishments, handles, and facing. But when I hit a time crunch, the remaining 19 bags were made quick and easy.
You might remember my post from making 20-minute totes for Lauri’s wedding. They turned out really nice but I didn’t like the unfinished edges. It was just a matter of time before those babies unravel. So I now have a new method to make totes and all the edges are finished. This takes longer than the “20-minute tote” but I think the clean finish is worth it.
Because all of the totes were denim and there was no special one-way print on them, I was able to get rid of that bottom seam.
Small Tote, 12″ x 13.5″ bag
Cut a piece of 14” x 30” denim
Cut 2 22” pieces of webbing for handles
Attach handles 3 inches from each side
This is when you should put any embellishments like pockets, appliques, or yo-yos on.
Turn under ½ “, stitch 3/8” from edge
Turn under 1”, stitch 7/8” from edge , Make sure the handles are pushed up when you stitch them.
Top stitch.
Put WRONG sides together
Stitch ¼” from each side.
Turn wrong sides out, press.
Stitch ½” from edge on both sides
Turn right side out, press.
Done
Easy Peasy!
DIY Totes, Part 1
Way back in October 2012 I made several totes for gift bags for Alan and Lauri’s out-of-town wedding guests. I used a tutorial from the Purl Bee website. They have numerous easy and fun sewing, crocheting, and knitting instructions.
Jessica and Andrew asked for 50 totes for their guests for their recent April wedding. Zowie! And I managed to make 44 before my machine had a stress attack and had to go to the clinic. Fortunately I had my old sewing machine tucked away and it came to the rescue for the next 4 bags–didn’t quite make it to the 50 mark.
I decided to use denim for the totes. I thought it fit in with the bluegrass, blueberries, and blue gingham theme. Plus I had stacks of old denim that I’d been saving from jeans that have seen better days or just gone of style (You’re not going to catch me in high-waisted mom jeans). I knew that I would still need to get more denim but I waited for it to go on sale at www.fabric.com and then for it to arrive.
Meanwhile, I made 29 unique bags and came up with a better method to make them.
Here’s a few of the totes:
When I finished bag 29, I started to panic–running out of time. No more special bags with embellishments or different handles. This is what the next 19 bags looked like!
I’ll post the new instructions for my simple totes tomorrow. Come back and check it out!