Sweet Little Custom Carry-All Kids’ Totes

I have a handbag love that I have apparently passed down to my offspring. There’s just something about toting a cute bag filled with favorite ~~crap~~ necessities. I think even little girls should have that, too! I knew at the end of last Christmas that I wanted to make all of the little cousins in my husband’s family some cute bags to carry their Bible and favorite things to church.

After the Clutch Week that I hosted here on my blog, I knew that I wanted to incorporate Peltex into my tote bag design. I really liked working with Peltex, and I knew that adding it to the tote would help to keep it more firm and durable to the girls’ rough and tumble. This being said, Peltex doesn’t exactly “turn” that well. I typically make totes and bags using the method where I sew the bag, then the lining on the outside, and then I turn the whole thing inside out. But I knew that wouldn’t be ideal for a bag with Peltex. So I went on a hunt for another method.

I came across the Mommy By Day, Crafter By Night Pleated Purse Tutorial. In this tutorial, Ashley inserted the lining into the bag, turned in the edges, and then stitched the top in place. I decided to try this method on all four totes.

To make the bags, I stuck close to the Pleated Purse Tutorial. Here are a few things that I altered about my totes:

I wanted them to be large enough to hold a coloring book for the kids. I widen the width and the height measurements.
I added Peltex to the top accent portion to sturdy up the tote.
I did away with the pleats and embroidered the girls’ names on the totes instead.

I still like the “turn the lining” method for making bags- simply because it is more forgiving if you are like me and have trouble closing up the top and stitching straight. But for a bag that you do not want to have to turn, the Pleated Purse tutorial is great.

Linking to these great parties.