A Girly Tote

A short time ago my husband and I were visiting with a friend - she was telling us about an upcoming summer trip to the beach with her little granddaughters. My friend has seen some of the bags I've made in the past and asked if I'd be able to make bags for her granddaughters to take to the beach - you know, for collecting sea shells and other little treasures. I do enjoy making bags and the opportunity to sew with sweet little girl fabrics was very appealing to me :o)

Lunch Bag pattern by Ayumi of Pink Penguin

Searching for a pattern is half the fun and I knew for certain I'd found what I was looking for when I happened upon the Lunch Bag by Ayumi of Pink Penguin. Ayumi wrote the tutorial for this bag back in 2010 so it's been out for several years now. Even though the pattern is called a lunch bag I think it makes a perfect tote for small children! The sweet drawstring top will help to protect the contents.

I was determined to use fabric from my stash and had a good time pulling options. I did feel like most of my fabrics have more of an adult-type of pattern on them so it took a couple days for me to find a mix I felt looked right for a child. I think these pink/coral fabrics fit the bill  :o)

I followed Ayumi's tutorial as written except that I made the outer bag body from one large piece of fabric instead of sewing two halves together. I do wish I'd thought to make the straps a bit longer - more like tote bag straps. However, this handle style will work just fine for small children. To give the bag structure I used fusible fleece on both the body of the bag and the handles.

How fun to sew from my fabric stash!

I have a fun mix of pink and green fabric pulled for the second bag and can't wait to get started! More pictures to follow :o)