Molly's Sketchbook: The Twenty Minute Tote

I am getting married at the end of the month and, although I know it might seem odd, until now I  haven't sewn, knitted, embroidered, or made anything for the wedding. Throughout the wedding planning process I've tried not to bite off more than I could chew and I just couldn't handle the pressure of sewing 100 napkins! But I had been hoping I would get to make something for our guests, even just something small, since making things by hand is a pretty big part of my life!

One thing I've always enjoyed at other people's weddings are the little goodie bags for out of town guests. For example: My friend Nicole (who's wedding quilt you may remember from this post) got married in Richmond and had bags of peanuts and homemade cookies in the shape of Virginia waiting in everyone's hotel room! I decided that I could try to tackle sewing a tote bag for each of my own out of town guest as a way to welcome them and share some New York treats... as long as it was a quick tote bag.

The bag I came up with is not only super quick but it's also sturdy and hopefully the guests will use it again! And I'm not joking about it being quick -- I timed it and it was under 20-minutes every time! I used the new Echino Ni-Co collection because I love its bold colors and modern, graphic prints. This is a simple project so it's a great way to show off such a stunning fabric. I also used our 1-inch cotton webbing for the handles. It comes in the best colors and it makes the whole project so simple. It was so fun and easy to make these that I think I might end up making even more than I actually need!

If you'd like to make your own please visit my Twenty Minute Tote Project Journal here.

Happy Sewing!-- Molly

Comments

[Katie]

this is so sweet! I love the glasses print especially. happy wedding-crafting!

[Color Collective]

These are so, so adorable!! And, I hear you about the wedding thing, I am a graphic designer so everybody expected me to make the invites etc.. but I was just excited to finally get to pick out some pretty invites NOT made by me!

[Stephanie]

My niece had a wedding recently and there were a lot of kids there. My mother-in-law sewed a bunch of little bags, and they each had a coloring book and a little pack of crayons in them. The kids could pick these up on their way into the church, color during the ceremony, and then take the whole thing home with them afterward. Too cute. I like your idea, too! Very cute and great fabrics!

[Ashley]

I love these! Inspired by the Purl Bee, I'm making 160 napkins for my own wedding, but didn't even think to make the gift bags for the out of towners! Such a blessing ( and a curse)!

Thaks for the inspiration, and congrats on your upcoming nuptials!

[Karina]

Molly! Congrats on your upcoming wedding! May your wedding day be filled with lots of laughter and joy.

[minnesota:madre | Sarah Jane]

Love it. Perfect for a newbie like me. Good luck with the wedding plans and the big day!

[Paloma]

I love your blog, this is so inspired! :) love from Spain!

[CitricSugar]

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! May your marriage is as beautiful as the projects you create!

[Carolyn]

Oh, this is perfect! I'm new to sewing and have nervously been sitting at my machine this morning working on a tote bag! I'm making mine for a friend who is having her baby this coming Tuesday.

Thanks for posting this lovely tutorial. Without doubt, the purl bee would have to be my favourite place to visit on the net. Wish you had a shop in Australia!!

All the very best for your wedding and marriage :)

[elsa]

great bag! I've been into making bags for some time now and make one similar but with 2 fabrics on the outside! they are so fun, practical, and I can have one in any color I want!
Congratulations on getting married! hope your day is lovely and I know your out of town guest will love their very own bags!

[Melissa Cordstone]

Wow, those totes are just darling! I'm sure your guests will absolutely love them, thanks for sharing this great craft project. Congratulations on your wedding!

[Jos]

congratiolations on your upcoming wedding and this wonderfully simple yet adorable pattern!

[Tammi]

Love this idea! If I were getting married, I'd do this. I hear you on the craft pressure for weddings. I made 150 little ipod/blackberry pouches for all of my wedding guests. (Using a lot of fabric purchased at Purl Patchwork). I also made pom poms for people to throw instead of rice and designed our wedding invite. Everything turned out well but it was a lot of work and a lot of pressure to get it all done on time. Congrats on your upcoming wedding. Enjoy every minute of it!

[Alex]

Your out of town guests are so lucky! Wish I was coming to the wedding!

[Margarida]

What a great idea!
The bags are loely and the prints are JUST PERFECT!
Congratulations :-)

[Illona]

Love the look of this bag. Molly, do you think it might be relatively easy to add a gusset strip of fabric so the tote might measure 16 x 14 x 2 inches, for instance? . . . just wondering. Thank you.

[Margot]

Oh these bags are great! Fun fun fun for your guests to think of just how they will put them to use after the festivities are over. And who does not love easy projects? I know I do.

[Marcia]

These are so perfect. Thank you for reminding us that simple is sometimes the best. I read the blog Monday morning, and had just enough time to make a gift bag for my girlfriend's birthday gift to give her at our lunch that day. Luckily I had some beautiful fabric and some cotton webbing.

Two embelishments:

I had some scraps, so I cut a 2" square of the fabric and zig zagged it onto a 2" square of natural cotton duck. I then made an eyelet with the sewing machine, cut the hole and tied the square to the handle with a 1/4" ribbon for a gift tag.

Also, 45" fabric will yield 3 14x16" panels in a width of fabric. I only had 1/2 a yard, so was left with an extra panel. I seamed that up and made a wine bottle gift bag. The seam goes down the back. I think the handle lengths were 14". Perfect for this Friday night.

Best of luck on your wedding and best wishes for a long and happy life together.

[Becky]

I hope you don't mind, but we featured this bag on our blog and made sure to let viewers know where we got it. Our blog is ziggycrafts.blogspot.com