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Thursday, November 3, 2011

30 Days Hath November day #3 and a little DIY

Something I never leave the house without...


I carry crap.  I carry lots of crap.  I take it with me daily.  This pile of stuff is my normal haul to work.  My purse (full of crap), my work planner, my personal planner, my laptop, and whatever project I am working on.  If I don't feel like thrifting over lunch I have my "stuff" to work on.

 My work planner. A little spray adhesive and floral fabric makes everything better. 
 The other side.

 This bag I made from an old vintage towel (another thing I collect) and is the perfect thing to carry all my stuff.  The great thing about these bags is that they can hold 3 gallons of milk.  Yes, 3 gallons.  The thicker the towel, and the more you reinforce the stitching, the more crap you can hold.  

Want to make one?  You can use one of those "recycle" bags from the grocery store as a make shift pattern for the width/length/and sides.  The great thing about these is that they don't need to be perfect.  Actually they are far from it.  I purposely stitch them on the outside of the right sides because I think that imperfection is best with these.

 I made this one last weekend.  They are super easy.
Take one or two old towels, a bag you like the size of (I used the one I bought from the grocery store for $1).

I folded it in half and then creased the bottom in two spots (to make a flat bottom) and stitched across twice (see below).

  I am a lazy crafter so this was in lieu of cutting a bottom piece. I stitched on the outside because I like how it looks with these old towels.
see how i stitched two times across to make a small rectangle? 

I used the pink towel for the sides so cut two pieces of your side fabric and stitch to the sides and the bottom.  Think of sewing in a U shape.  

For the straps cut two long pieces and stitch the ends to the outside.  If you want it to be super heavy duty, cut 4 pieces and stitch the straps to both the inside and outside.  I always reinforce the straps and stitch not only the outside but an X pattern in the middle of the where the strap meets the bag.
And that's it!  If you make one I would LOVE to see it!  
To come play along with the 30 Days Hath November fun visit  SoFawned.  To see where I am linking up click on the "I like to party" page.

Happy Friday!

5 comments:

  1. Ooh great post! Thanks for joining in the fun!

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  2. 3 gallons of milk!!!! I carried two out today and thought my arm was going to fall off, hahaha! Super fun bags - love the last one with all the color.

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  3. Great post it is!! I learned lot from your blog, which is really awesome. A splendid bag you created with towels, My totally new in fabric world, which is really great experience.
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  4. Awesome tutorial! And a great bag. Using old towels is a fantastic idea to have strength in this tote bag. Thank you for sharing with us at TTF and have a wonderful day!

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  5. Great tutorial! Thanks for sharing at Etcetorize~

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