Recently, a teacher asked for some tote bags and I was happy to oblige. She requested one for herself, one for each of her two kids, and then one for her classroom.
I sized/patterned these bags after another bag I made this same teacher and after my favorite tote bag. Its roughly 16'' by 16'' with a boxed corner and a 28'' strap. Very simple, but very functional. They are large enough to carry around a wad of papers to grade or Sunday School teaching materials but not so large that things get lost in the depths of the bag.
The teacher's personal bag is a fun grey swirly canvas (so it coordinates somewhat with her previous grey bag). It is lined with canvas and has a layer of batting in between. The straps on all these bags are sturdy nylon webbing covered in fabric. This has become my favorite strap method because it makes a super sturdy strap that doesn't get all floppy with use but it still matches the bag.
The bag for her daughter has a hand embroidered name on one side and a outside pocket on the other side. I think the mom intends these bags to be used for carrying kid gear on trips.
Similar design for her son. The two kid's bags are 100% cotton (outside, lining, and pocket) with one layer of batting.
The classroom snack bag is embellished with fun felt letters. I used double sided fusible web on the letters and then stitched them down for durability. This bag is made from black sturdy canvas as it gets dragged (sometimes literally) back and forth to school each day by a different student. I used up a piece of not-so-beautiful stripe I had laying around for the lining of this bag and I didn't cover the straps so they are plain white nylon webbing (the store was out of black nylon webbing and I was just a tad short on having enough canvas to cover them).
Four fresh totes in roughly one week of home sewing time - not bad!
The next project is a another teacher-related thing... probably posted in a few days or so.
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