Last Day of School Bags

So, I realize I'm a little behind the ball on teacher gifts, but these little bags turned out so cute back in June, that I just had to share even if it is August.  In fact, I have found that this is exactly what vacation is great for - catching up on blog posts I should have posted months ago!

These were super simple and in expensive!

Supplies

2 cute placemats (or one dish towel)
3 yards strapping material
about 7 x 7 inch scrap material for inner pocket
your sewing mating and thread

For the big ones I used two placemats each from Target! They were about $4 each.  The smaller one (below) is just one dish towel which was $4.

In addition to the kitchenware, I used some fun, colorful strapping I found at Pacific Fabrics.   I used 3 yards of each color and I think it was about $2.50 per yard.

Now least you think I came up with this all on my own, I generally followed this Placemat Tote Bag tutorial from Dana, at Made.  I combined the placemat bag tutorial with the pocket tote tutorial and voila!

A Placemat Tote with a pocket inside.

First, I sewed the strapping on the outside of each side leaving a 24in loop on top for the handles.  I placed the straps about 4in in from the side of the bag.

Next, I cut a rectangle of material, folded in the edges 1/4 inch twice and ironed.  I sewed the top edged of the pocket material, then pinned it to the wrong side of the bag and sewed around the two sides and bottom edge.

 Finally, I placed the two placemat sides wrong side together and sew around the three edges as close as I could to the edge.  I was careful where the straps met up at the bottom and reinforced the top corners to give it some extra strength - hopefully for some towels and sunscreen for a fun summer trip!

Happy Summer!