OKAY! I had some hems to shorten today so while I had the sewing machine out, I finished the Spring bag/totes that I was making from place mats!! HURRAY!
If you recall, I am making these totes from place mats I found at the $ store and all the emblellishments are from there, too! First I pinned the ribbon in place on a slant for this one. I used a heavy duty needle on the machine as you would use for denim.
Next I stitched the ribbon in place and joined it at the bottom of the bag by overlapping the two ends and folding over for a clean look.
Then I took a piece of fabric to line the bag with and laid it on the mat cutting around the edge in an oblong just slightly wider and longer than the mat. This left room to turn the lining fabric under, then pinned and stitch to the mat before sewing up the sides of the bag. Next I sewed up each side of the bag and went over the stitching twice to re-inforce.
TIP: I use invisible nylon thread for almost all my sewing projects and alterations. It is strong, can be laundered and ironed over but it helps not having to have many, many spools of different colored threads! It also has a little elasticity to it.
Here is the bag with the sides sewed up just inside of the border on the mat.
Next I pinned on the butterfly embellishments as they need to be tacked on by hand and also I will trim of the wires at the bottom of each butterfly so I have no sharp edges.
And here is what my finished bag looks like. All I have to do is tack the embellishments down!I followed all the same procedure for the lavender place mat with matching ribbon and butterflies. I lined the lavender bag with pink fabric.
I will be putting these in my Etsy Shop for $12.95 plus 6.00 shipping each. They will be one of a kind as I designed them myself. If you order here on my blog by using the PayPal tab and say for "Tote" you will save 1.00.
I sure hope you enjoyed this craft How-To and I hope you will try making one of these handy little bags!
♥KERRIE♥
My krafty heart to yours...
The bag and the doily are from the $ store. It is just the right size to hold cell phone, cosmetics, and a small wallet. I got out my button tin and found these black and gold buttons to embellish the doily. I just love the way it came out.
This is the backside with one black button for closure. 
And here is the lavender bag. I removed the brighter green stitching on the handle ring and did a blanket stitch around the ring in a matching green embroidery thread. I used all matching yellow buttons on this one. 
I used one lavender button for the closure on this one. I just used the opening on the doily for buttoning even though it is off center. These will make great gifts! They are completely washable, too!
