I'm a simple person, I like simple things. About 2 years ago I received a beautiful purse for Valentine's Day. Thanks to daily use, an active toddler, and our living room chair, I now am bag-less. Being that I'm 6 1/2 months pregnant, I just figured I'd use the baby's diaper bag as mu purse as well. That didn't go over so well, diaper bags today are a joke. Anyway, I decided to give making my own a try.
As you may know, I adore Missouri Star Quilting. I buy all of my supplies from their website and Jenny is my go-to for tutorials on YouTube. I found her video for these bags here. The taller of my bags followed her video exactly. With the smaller one, I improvised. Here are a few pictures, front and back, of each tote.
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| Front |
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| Back |
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| Front |
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| Back |
You're probably wondering how I can tell the front from the back on each bag? Well, on each bag, if you look at the upper right corner on the back you'll notice it bunches up. I'm not sure why this happened, it's not on a seam or anything, but it's occurred on both bags. Maybe I just didn't pull the bag through far enough, I dunno.
The second bag has only 2 differences from the first really.
#1. I "stitched in the ditch" instead of doing the quilted lines. I really just wanted the fabric to be the showcase.
#2. THE HANDLES!!!! I cannot tell you how much I stressed over the handles on the first tote. All I did differently this time was to sew 5 precut 5" squares together, then follow Jenny's instructions.
There you have it, my little charm totes. The first one, I admit I mis-measured and that's why the bottom is so big, is big enough that my sister uses it to carry her books and notes between classes. The second one is like me, small and simple. I'm able to fit my keys, wallet, and my books inside it. C'mon, who doesn't leave the house without a good book?
My only complaint? Since Jenny did not add a button or zipper enclosure, neither of these have one. I would love to be able to keep these secure, but I'm not stressing over it to much. I hope you all enjoy making these cute tote bags. They really are simple to make and are slightly above a beginner level. After the first one is made, the rest is cake.
Have fun, and as always, happy crafting everyone!
