Hello everyone, I’m so excited today to share with you all this simple tote bag I made. For a while now, I’ve been wanting a bag for my library rounds. I was going to buy a tote bag but then I felt like making it would rather even let me always visit the library. I had plans of crocheting it but as at now, time is not a luxury I have.
After making the top from my mom’s leftover fabric, she was impressed at how I was still able to finish it despite the machine stitches. She told me she had more if I wanted them. When she brought out the “more” she said she had, it was not even more than the size of a bandana. We both laughed at the situation and I asked her what I could make with it.
She reminded me of how bad I’ve been wanting a tote bag for a while now. I really didn’t think I could make a strong bag from the fabric but she told me all I needed to do was to linen the interior. In fact I didn’t even have linen and I was surprised to see her unpick the seams of her old dress just to get me linen.
Somedays ago, she couldn’t even trust me with fabric leftover but now, she’s destroying her dress for me so I asked her what changed and she said she was happy that I didn’t give up even after the struggles I faced with the machine. Honestly, that made me so excited.
Surprisingly, I used two hours to make this bag which is a huge win for me looking at how I spent so many hours on my top the last time. It was half easy, half difficult, hehe.
The materials I used were:
•the leftover fabric
•a pair of scissors
•old linen
•measuring tape
I started by dividing the fabric into two and then I measured each part against the linen and cut the linen too. I then sewed the linen against each fabric.
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I now sewed both sides together and I realized I was supposed have sewed the sides together before the bottom but I did otherwise and it still worked out perfectly.
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I cut the handle of the bag and then linen that too. That part took more than an hour. I didn’t know how exactly to make it so I went to get an old tote back and then realized I had to sew the linen against each other. I did that and it looked alright at least.
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I then measured 21.6 inches and divided it by two to fix the handle to the bag.
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And I was done.
Gallery
I am very patient when I’m crocheting but I just realized that sewing is no different and also needs even much more patience. At least when I’m crocheting, I can control everything because I’m using my hand but for sewing with a machine, you can’t easily correct certain mistakes so you don’t have to let your emotions overwhelm you. It was nice making this bag knowing that I already have a lot of library rounds to make. I just hope my mom doesn’t say she wants it the moment she sees it. Thank you for your time.
All images are mine