Tote Bag Makeover

Since this bag from Anya Hindmarch was released sometime in 2007, several business and organizations started releasing their own reusable shopping bags made of cloth.

I have a small collection of reusable shopping bags which I get from malls, supermarkets, boutiques. I always keep one in my purse for when I have to go to the grocery after work or buy something at the mall. I like to think that since 2007, I have done my part to reduce the use of plastic. 

Anyway, I also have several of these bags from WWF. My husband works for WWF (which is really cool because they get to a lot of cool stuff and it's for work!) and they sell these and give some away on some of their events (as of this writing, I think I have 4 reusable bags from WWF). Since I don't really use all of them, I decided to find a use for some of my favorites.

This is one of my favorites:

This is made of canvas and the print is just their logo, no other text like the other ones. I find their panda logo cute and I thought I can make this shopping bag into a tote bag in a few simple steps!

Step 1: It was a little deep so I cut off around 2 inches off the bottom and hemmed it close.

Step 2: Add lining with pockets. I just used the shape of the bag as pattern to make my lining.

Step 3: I added a magnetic closure. I just looked for 2 magnets that are the same shape (I found 2 square ones in my husbands junk pile... I don't know where they came from but I thought they looked pretty. I put one inside the top seam on the front of the bag. Then I created this small flap by sewing 3 grosgrain ribbons together and burning the edges. I glued the other magnet to the flap, leaving it exposed since it looks nice. Then I added a little stitching on each side of the magnet.

that small square thing is a magnet

Step 4: I added a zipper... YES, this is the first time I used a zipper in a sewing project and I had to use the seam ripper several times but I did it!!! I added the zipper as an after thought, several hours after I thought I was finished with the bag so I wasn't able to take a picture. Anyway, I will be honest in saying that it doesn't really look pretty since the way I sewed it on the bag was uneven, but I say not bad for a first attempt.

So here's my finished tote:

You can't actually see a lot of difference from the photo since I didn't really change the design. But it's a little smaller and because of the lining, keeps its shape better when hanging from your shoulder.

I have another project involving my other reusable shopping bags but I'll be honest, I haven't started yet. This week is Holy Week in the Philippines, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are non-working holidays (and on Good Friday, local TV stations go off the air, malls, groceries, restaurants, and other establishments are closed) so most people go on vacations... including me :) So I might not be able to post anything else this week but I promise I'll have something good for you guys next week.

Before I sign off for the week... let me leave you with a little preview. Aside from my other reusable bag project, I need to do something about these pendants:

A shell pendant from one of my old necklaces.

Shell pendants I got from a souvenir shop somewhere in Monterey Bay, CA a few years ago when I went there on vacation.

And my husband has been working on his own project:

a dollhouse for Andrea!

He did not document his steps... and he started this very late at night 2 weeks ago so I wasn't able to take pictures of his progress but I will be sharing his finished project. This might be a little different from the doll houses you're used to seeing.

More on these projects, and other projects, next week!

I am linking up to the following link parties:

Free for All at Young and Crafty | Sew Crafty Saturday at Wildflowers and Whimsy | CraftOManiac Monday at CraftOManiac | Just Somethig I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative | Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do | Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple | Inspire Me Monday at Singing Three Little Birds | Tuesday Party at Running with Glitter |