A Beach Bag

Last week I made this beach bag for my sister to take on her vacation to Hawaii!  What I would give for a white sandy beach and 80 degree weather right now!  Definitely jealous :) After searching for the perfect beach bag pattern and not finding it, I looked to my own stash of bags for inspiration.  I ended up choosing a tote bag from AE that I liked and began studying it's seams, trying to figure out how it was put together.  When I couldn't quite grasp what the pattern would look like for the bottom, I decided to do a little seam ripping. It made much more sense after that!  And I now understand the parts of a bag and the order in which to sew them.  If there were only more hours in the day, I think I could design my own pattern!

Picnic Basket Tutorial

Summer time is sunshine, kite flying, sunburns, laziness, ice cream, bbqs, bike riding, hiking, family, and picnics!

I love laying in the park on a warm summer day after eating a crisp sandwich just soaking it all in.  Summer is the best.  And so are picnics.

To make a nifty picnic basket like the one above you will need:  a basket, a piece of corrugated cardboard, spray adhesive, fabric, purse handles, a glue gun, and a sewing machine.

I started by tracing the top of my basket onto a piece of corrugated cardboard.  Be sure you trace it so that the lines on the cardboard are going in the direction you want your lid to fold.  Cut it out.

Fold the lid so there is about 1 1/2 inches in the middle.  Unfold it.  Fold it.  Unfold it.  This will give it it's form. 

Then cover with fabric however you wish!  I used 1/2" strips of fabric glued with spray adhesive.

Now for the handles!  I purchased a set of braided microfiber purse handles at JoAnne's for around $3.00.  I attached them by sewing a small piece of fabric near the edge of the canvas lining.

Then inserted the rings of the handles and sewed the other end.

Lastly, I hot glued the lid on to the basket at the 1 1/2" middle.

And there you have it.

I linked up to the Parties and Picnics Challenge at: