THIS BLOG HAS MOVED!

for the time being i will keep my old posts here at blogger, but i have imported all content to wordpress. please don't abandon me! to stay updated, head on over to my new space and follow me there. thanks!

—lisa g.

Friday, March 2, 2012

tote bag

i didn't intend to blog about this last project i made, but it turned out so cute i just couldn't resist sharing! my three year old son started preschool a few weeks ago and was in need of a tote bag to carry papers back and forth to and from school. since i'm too cheap to buy something when i have perfectly good scraps of material wasting away in a box, i decided to make him one.




now, i put it off and put it off because i thought it just seemed like a boring project. however once i got started, i was surprised by how much i enjoyed making this little bag! the more details i incorporated into the bag, the more excited i got about it. i haven't made tote bags or purses or anything like this before, but i'll definitely be making some in the future.




this is a simple bag, just big enough to hold papers and folders or books from the library. i had some green corduroy leftover from a skirt i made last year and i figured it would be durable enough. plus, green is his absolute favorite color... it's like it was meant to be. i fully lined it in green cotton, and even added a zipper pocket on the inside to hold his snack or small items.


i had some issues with the topstitching around the magnet...
please excuse all the tied off threads!


i wanted a simple applique for the front, something that wasn't too little boy-ish so he can hopefully use this for a few years to come. i drew a car silhouette which i cut out of some scraps of stripy material i had laying around. i added some fusible to the back of the applique to keep it sturdy, then just zig-zagged around the edge attaching it to the front panel of the bag with top stitching thread. i wasn't sure if it would be cute or just look homemade (oh the horror!) but it turned out even better than i had hoped. seriously cute stuff.




i faced the top edge of the inside of the bag and added a magnetic snap (love those! so easy to put in!) and of course, straps. now, i thought—hey wouldn't it be cute if i had the cords running side to side for the straps? bad idea. made it nearly impossible to turn the straps right side out! i ended up wasting two whole hours of my life working on those little buggers!


not. kidding. 




i needed a tag for his name on the inside, so i decided to go all out. i drew out a little message in pencil, added some fusible to the back and just stitched away on my machine! not too bad for a first try at freehand label making if i do say so myself.




the best part though was his excited reaction to seeing the completed bag—


this is mine? it's green?!
with handles?!! and zipper?!!!
and a snap?!!!! and a car?!!!!!



seriously, this boy could not contain his happiness. warms a mama's heart.




—lisa g

No comments:

Post a Comment

i appreciate all the feedback, but will no longer be responding to comments left here. i have moved all my content to wordpress (see link at the top of the page!) and will now be posting there. all my posts can be found in my wordpress archive. thanks for reading and please visit my new page!