I always think a tote bag or book bag makes a great gift, and they are so quick and easy to make.An even better gift is a tote bag with something inside it! I am making lots of these bags in all sorts of sizes for my nieces for Christmas this year, all with a surprise inside. Shhh, don’t tell them!!

I used an A4 file as a template for the large book bag and cut out 2 piece of the main fabric Village Trees and 2 pieces of the lining fabric Village Flowers

Pin and sew up the side, bottom and then the other side of both the main bag and the lining, neaten the edges with pinking shears or zig-zag stitch,

I like to use my trusty Fiskar pinking shears, they are so sharp and reliable, which reminds me, here is my facebook post from today:

Turn the main fabric piece the right way round and insert the lining so that the wrong sides are together

With this bag I wanted to show the lovely lining so I turned the top over to the outside rather than the inside, fold over twice to get a neat edge pin and sew in place.

This bag is to go over the shoulder so I made long handles, so I cut 2 strips of fabric to the length I required and folded them in half lengthways sewing and neatening with my pinking shears

My special trick for turning the handle the right way around is to put a safety pin at the top and pull it through the tube like when you thread elastic

Iron the handle and pin inside the bag, sew on securely

Now, what shall I put inside this one?

The fabric I used on the mini version is an oil cloth called Field Study and I used a red spotty fabric for the lining.

Happy Sewing!