A Beach tote for me!

There was a big snowstorm Wednesday outside my windows.

 

I was fine with it though...

I have a few really fun trips to look forward to and to make new bags for as well!

 

I finished one while that yucky white stuff was coming down.

 

 

 

It's from one of my favorite "go-to" bag books.

 

 

It's acutally a bag I never thought I'd make because of the handles-I HATE the kind of handles that the pattern has you make.

If you've ever made them  I'm sure you know why.

 

 

 

But I sat and thought about it and really liked the rest of the bag-especially the ruffle.

Finally, I decided there had to be a way to modify it and I was going to try!

 

I knew it would be a super cute beach tote for a few reasons:

*It's big-I need lots of room to carry all of Dustin's stuff ;-)

*It's open at the top-great for throwing everything in

*I can fold it into my suitcase easily

And did I mention it's cute!

 

 

The big change I made was the handles.

It's supposed to be one continuous piece-

I HATE sewing those where you have to cut the center circle out and then tuck in all the raw edges....HATE IT.

 

So I cut the piece in half horizontally and also made the opening a bit bigger.

If you look closely you can see my extra seams on the handles but it doesn't really bother me!

It turned out perfectly and it was much easier!

 

Who doesn't love a good ruffle?

 

I can't wait to use my new bag on a sunny beach in a few weeks!