{my first tote bag}

It's funny how I kind of go through kicks. Lately I've been sewing like crazy. A friend of mine gave me this home decor fabric that didn't really match anything in my house, but I thought it was fun. Too thick to use for clothing, but I turned it into this homemade tote bag. I used some leftover pieces of fabric I had lying around. The pockets are measured to a perfect size for me! I love the pleats, I'm hoping my next one will be bigger. It seriously looked huge when I was cutting the fabric...but what can I say, no pattern....

Things I learned:
~I bought a plastic place mat from the dollar store to make the bottom of the bag hard. I then cut it to shape. Most purses have this, they just need more support in the bottom.
~To make a flat bottom, you basically cut squares out of the corners and then sew them in the opposite direction (as shown below).