Stash-busting totes

On finishing the baskets, I realized I had way overbought the canvas/denim. I had roughly 1 1/4 yards left that I really didn't want to keep around.  So, tote bags for the wedding party it is!  I remembered seeing a post by D. I. Bride (in searching for inspiring tote "patterns" to copy) on sewing L.L. Bean type totes for her wedding guests, except I wanted to use accents of the basket lining fabric as well.

I picked out a thinnish brown twill from my stash (a remnant find at JoAnn's) that went really well with the blue print, measured a tote I got from an expo and came up with this:

It's not a very good glamour shot, but it shows off the features. The front center is a patch pocket framed by the straps on either side, the bottom-of-the-bag brown on the bottom, and bound on the top by the lining fabric. The base of the bag had its edges pressed under and topstitched onto the main body (canvas), and over the bottom ends of the straps. I didn't want the base of the bag to wear out, since the dark twill was thinner than the canvas.

For the straps, I cut a piece 2.5" wide by the width of fabric (surprisingly, 44") and folded both sides to the center and pressed. I then cut 1.5" wide strips from the lining fabric, and pressed the sides a scant 1/4" (i.e. as little as I could consistently make it without burning my fingertips). I didn't see the point of "lining" the straps when they were being sewn to the bag front, so I only lined the free part of the straps, roughly 24" (2 12" drops). Then I roughly centered the lining along the length, centered the print in the width, and stitched down both sides to get a nice border of the brown on both sides. The raw edges were sewn down onto the outside of the bag body.

So, I got to this point:

for three bags. I french seamed one bag (machine went through 6 layers of denim without blinking), boxed the bottom corners, and promptly ran out of time to finish all three before the bachelorette party. My fabulous new neighbor/friend/quilter/crafter extraordinaire was kind enough to serge the edges and finish the two other bags for me while I was out wining and dining the bride-to-be.  Serging is a much less bulky finish! (Which reminds me that I really need to get my serger serviced.)

I hope the wedding party girls liked them... mostly I'm just glad that 3/4 yd of fabric is out of my stash!! I have a couple more pieces that I'll probably make up into more totes; it's not really good for anything else.