church bag

Until now, we've been using an ugly blue and white canvas bag that says "Martha Stewart Living" on the side (I must have got it for free somewhere) to tote all of our scriptures and books to church on Sunday. Every time I look at it I get a little bit embarrassed. It is not cute. At all. I got a burst of energy last night (nesting?) and decided to rummage through my fabric scraps to see if I had enough fabric to come up with a new bag. I found this black and white upholstery fabric I bought from the remnants bin a while back and decided it would be perfect. For the lining I used some leftover red corduroy from my Christmas stocking project and an hour later had a new bag! Tote bags are a really great project. They don't require a pattern, are forgiving on measurements and sew up fast and easy. This is actually the second bag I've sewn. I did the first a few nights ago--it's a shoulder bag version that will be a diaper bag for Kate's dolls (I'll post pictures soon)-- so I went with what I learned from that tutorial and modified it based on the amount of fabric I had and made 2 handles instead of 1. Now I can throw the ugly Martha Stewart bag away and as Kate's books get pushed out of the diaper bag to make room for all the things a baby requires (I'm going to have to take so much stuff) her books can occupy this new bag.