A Bigger Project Than I Expected

I just took on a project that I was SOOO excited to get started on. I had seen these tote bags made from bandanas. I thought, "What a genius idea! That would be so cute with a personalized monogram." After all, a good southern gal thinks everything needs a good monogram. I also thought this would make great Christmas gifts for the daughters and daughters-in-law and maybe even the granddaughters. I was thinking big, ya'll! 

So, I began exploring tutorials and examining different handmade options and discovered that purchasing a ready-made bag was going to be quite expensive. I liked one I found on Etsy and decided I'd better keep searching.

Etsy Bag - $155

I also found a few at the Bloomingdales website. They were already decorated. Yet, again, it was cost prohibitive, though.

Bloomingdales Bag - $403

I kept thinking about those cute bags and, of course, options would pop up in my social media feeds, since I had searched for such an animal. I also saw loads of other cute bags constructed from bandanas. I began saving ideas and kept thinking about it. Then, a blog that I follow, My 100 Year Old Home, penned by Leslie Saeta, posted a really wonderful tutorial showing how she made a bandana bag. So, I decided to tackle it.

Leslie's Handmade Bandana Tote Bags

I cannot convey how much I learned from this project. I cannot say enough about how thankful I am for the wonderful tutorial. My completed bag looked so professional that the Mister suggested I make some to sell.  Well, I will tell you, I'm not sure folks could afford mine either! Let me share what I learned and some modifications that I added to Leslie's instructions as I mad my own personalized bag. I'll also share my ideas for how I might make my next one. Yes, it is such a cute finished product that I have spent a lot of time thinking about how I could make it simpler and more streamlined.

First, I had never machine quilted anything. I had never used fusible foam batting. I had never made such a big bag. Next, I knew that I wanted to add an inside zip pocket. There are so many times when I need to stash something in a tote bag that I don't want rolling around in the bottom of it. I also had seen a tutorial for adding an inset zipper closure to the top of a bag and I wanted to give that a go.

I used Saeta's tutorial for the most part. She had great instructions, measurements, and photos showing just how to craft a nice bag. Knowing that I wanted to insert an inside zipper pocket, I also noticed a few tutorials about that. I primarily used this one. One thing that I did differently than the tutorial showed is that I used one strip of scrap gingham fabric. I used an 8-inch zipper. Since I had the one strip of fabric, I thought that would be better than having a seam at the bottom of the pocket that might come unstitched. Instead, I just folded the piece in half and have a fold forming the bottom of the pocket. Of course, in my learning experience, I inserted the zipper with the zipper pull facing the wrong direction. Thank goodness it was easy to pick out and didn't destroy the lining piece of my bag. 

inserted zipper pocket

I also added a recessed zipper closure panel to the top of my bag. I basically followed this tutorial. Since I was using bandanas, I used the already hemmed side as the finished side of my panel and just top-stitched it one-and-a-half inches from the top edge of my bag. I stitched the front side to the lining before assembling the lining and the outer part of the bag. Then, top-stitched the other side of the panel to the back of the bag at the end by just measuring with a ruler and marking a line across the lining back and stitching through all of the layers of the bag.

recessed zipper closure panel in the top of my bag

To be honest, I don't think I will use the zipper closure and will probably remove it from my tote bag. I sort of like having it open with easy access and just the inserted zipper pocket like the example below. (I don't know the origin of this photo but I do love the color combination! I also like the simpler construction method of the bag below and how the square around the bandana sort of frames the top of the lining where it is most visible. I may give that a try on my next effort. Plus, notice the inside zipper pocket. the zipper looks like it is framed out with the edge of a bandana, which is a cute feature. So, I'm guessing the pocket just has finished edges and is stitched on top of the lining fabric.

I don't know the origin of this image

I wanted my bag to have a bit more structure than Saeta's tutorial showed. So, I pinched the seams of the bottom of the bag and the corner seams of the side of the bag and ran a top-stitch along those seams. That seemed to give it more detail and structure and I'm really glad I thought of that.

My Bag Hanging From Longer Straps

I'm not sure how long my handles are. I didn't measure them. I just used scraps that I had left over from cutting the side pieces. I'm also not certain that I really like having two sets of handles. On any future bags I make, I might just have one set of handles and add a tab with a D-ring for attaching longer straps to the inside somewhere.

My Bag Hanging From Shorter Straps

I must say that another of Saeta's tips was helpful. I used the magnetic hoops that she recommended for monograming my bag after I quilted the front piece. I don't think using the regular hoop would have worked on such a thick piece. The magnetic hoop held the flat front perfectly. I still used a tear-away stabilizer under the quilted flat front piece just to be sure that it would smoothly stitch the monogram. The fonts I used were from Etsy - The Stitch Ready Hub I used the Jumbo Fishtail Two Color Font 4" for the letter O and the Fishtail Two Color Font 3.5" font for the letters B and N. I debated on using two colors but in the end I decided that I liked how Saeta's looked with one color and just kept it all one color and simple. 

This really turned out to be a bigger project than I expected. I really didn't think it would take me so long to make a tote bag. I've already purchased more bandanas and plan to give this another go. I do plan on trying a simpler technique. I was learning loads of different things with this one. However, it still took me the better part of two days to stitch this up from start to finish. Notice the uncredited blue and yellow bag shown earlier in this post. It looks like the sewist used two full-width bandanas and sewed them together with a side seam. I'm guessing that the sewist just squared off the bottom corners by cutting a square out of the bottom and folding the side and bottom seams together for stitching or maybe just stitched all around the edge of the bandana and folded the corners and stitched and trimmed to form a boxed corner. I am probably going to give that a try to see how I like it. Remember, we have a lot of girls to give gifts for Christmas. So, simpler is better when crafting multiples of something. For my bag, I used a total of ten bandanas - five of each color. Using the simpler method would also cut back on the number of bandanas and the number of pieces I would need to quilt without compromising much on the size of the tote. It would make fewer seams and that is always helpful when crafting multiples and makes the process go faster.

My mind has been racing for ways to make the process simpler and for other ways to use these bandanas. I've seen so many cute zip pouches that are embellished with embroidery, beads, rhinestones, sparkly vinyl, and more. I've seen them used in combination with other fabrics and lots of denim. In our farm family denim and bandanas are hard to beat when it comes to usefulness. So, when those two fabrics are used to create something cute as well as useful, I'm all in!

I am still excited about this cute tote bag and am looking forward to making more.