DIY Library Tote with Library Card Pocket

My daughter has been really into reading lately, which is really exciting for me because I was quite the bookworm when I was little (I used my allowance to buy every Garfield book I could get my hands on.) Every night, my daughter and I read a book or two before bed to help her wind down and because reading "makes the bad dreams go away" according to her. I think it's just another way to delay bedtime, but who am I to argue with the powers of a good book :)

This month's theme as part of Michael's Makers is back-to-school. With kindergarten just over a week away I wanted to make something for Haley that would encourage her love of reading as she goes into the new school year. What better way than to make her a library tote to carry her library books?

Fall Felt Series: Felt and Suede Clutch

I hope everyone has enjoyed all of our projects from the Fall Felt Series this year! Shannon and I have had a ton of fun getting creative with felt and coming up with some new ideas for fall outside of the typical felt projects you may see around.

For our last post of the series, I decided to make myself a felt and suede clutch. I'm not typically a clutch kind of girl (lugging 2 kids around means I need a strap on my bags or else I'm bound to leave it somewhere - not that I've done that before *cough cough*), but I gave it a go and I love how it turned out!

This bad boy is big enough to hold my stuff - I made sure to make a few pockets inside to hold everything - and it's great when I'm on the run, or for a date night out sans kiddos (hint hint husband.)

Wanna make one too?

SUPPLIES: 1/2 yard felt - I used 100% virgin wool felt in classic navy from Michael Levine, scraps of suede or leather - I used brown suede from Michael Levine, a rectangle of fabric 6 inches wide by 13 inches long, sewable interfacing slightly smaller than your fabric, leather or suede cording, rotary cutter and mat, chalk or disappearing ink marker, sewing machine and basic sewing supplies.

First you'll need to cut out your pattern pieces. Cut one piece of felt 21 inches long by 13 inches wide, and cut out a triangle from a piece of suede 4 1/2 inches tall by 10 inches wide. You will also need a rectangle of cotton fabric 6 inches wide by 13 inches long and a piece of sewable interfacing slightly smaller than your rectangle.

Attaching Your Pocket:

ONE: fuse your interfacing to the back of your fabric rectangle according to the instructions. Next, use an iron to iron each of the long sides down 1/4 inch.
TWO: measure about 7 inches from the bottom of your felt rectangle and mark with chalk.
THREE: place the bottom of your fabric pocket on the chalk line and pin, then sew across the bottom only to attach.
FOUR: use your disappearing ink marker to draw lines where you want your pockets to be. Sew on top of the lines you drew to make separate compartments.

FIVE: measure 7 inches down on either side and mark with chalk. Make another mark on the top middle of your felt. Draw lines from the top of your felt to the marks you made on the sides. Cut along your lines to make the triangle flap of your clutch.

Adding Suede:

ONE: fold the bottom of your felt up 7 inches and pin the sides. Sew.
TWO: use a rotary cutter and mat to evenly cut your suede into 3 pieces.
THREE: place your suede on top of your felt where desired and mark if needed.
FOUR: carefully and slowly sew your suede onto the front of your bag.

Making The Tassel:

ONE: make a small line on your suede with your chalk or disappearing ink marker and carefully make a slit with scissors or an X-Acto Knife.
TWO: cut a long piece of cording and fold it in half. Thread the loop through the hole and the tails through the loop.
THREE: this is what your cording should look like so far.
FOUR: now to make the tassel, I simply made long loops with the cording until I was happy with it.
FIVE: after you've made as many loops as you want, wrap the tails of the cording around the top of the tassel tightly and knot.
SIX: snip the loops on the bottom of the tassel with scissors to finish.

I love the handy little compartments inside that hold all my stuff!

I hope we've given you some new ideas for things to make with felt, and we'd love to see anything you'd like to show off (past or recent projects)! Post any of your projects you've made using felt on our Facebook wall, and we will feature some of our favorites next week.

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A HUGE thank you to our sponsor, Michael Levine, Inc. for supplying the felt for the Fall Felt Series! As I'm sure you can tell, we absolutely love their products and were so thrilled when they decided to jump on board and partner with us for the series.

Have a great weekend and be sure to check back with us on Monday, because we will be having a little giveaway to celebrate the series!

Check out our Link Party Page to see where we link up each week!

CRAFT: Artsy Mini Tote

I have another fun Mother's Day/teacher gift for you today that's SO simple and endlessly customizable! If you read my previous project for The Little Things Purse, I'm not into big, bulky purses. In fact, I carried my wallet, phone, and other essentials around with me in my pockets until just a few years ago - it wasn't pretty. I broke down and gave into the fact that purses are not only essential for carrying valuables, they're really pretty too!

This mini tote is made of canvas and leather and is unlined (but it could be lined easily.) By using transfer paper and pictures of some famous masterpieces, I was able to take this bag from blah to beautiful! I made 2 - one for my mom and another for my mother-in-law - and now I'm really wishing I would've made one for myself (didn't I learn anything from our Made It for Me series??)

Grab some supplies and make some for your mom, grandmother, mother-in-law or treat yourself to a new bag!

SUPPLIES: fabric transfer paper (I used Transfer Magic, which I found in Hobby Lobby I think?), two 9x11.5in pieces of canvas fabric or other heavy fabric, two 17x1in strips of 5-7oz leather + scraps, printer, sewing machine and heavy duty needle, pinking shears.

Preparation:

ONE: first, cut out your pieces. You'll need to cut out 2 straps for your leather measuring 1 inch wide by 17 inches long. Also cut out 4 small pieces of leather big enough to cover the raw edges of your straps.
TWO: find images of famous masterpieces online that you like (Google is good for this!) I chose 2 paintings by Monet: "Woman with the Parasol" and "Water Lilies." Use paint, Photoshop, or a similar photo editing program to make your images 8.5 inches across by 11 inches wide (the size of a standard sheet of paper.) Make sure to mirror your image so when you transfer them to your canvas they won't be backwards (I forgot to do this with the "Woman with the Parasol" image above. Follow the instructions on your transfer paper to iron them onto your canvas, leaving 1/2 inch borders around the edges for seam allowance.

Assembling Your Bag:

ONE: first, fold your long leather strips in half wrong sides together (wst) and finger press down the middle.
TWO: measure one inch down (this is where you will begin sewing.)
THREE: make sure you switch to a heavy duty needle for your leather straps, and sew down the bottom edge of your straps (wst), stopping 1 inch before the end. Repeat for second strap.
FOUR: measure over approximately 1 inch down and 1 inch from the side of your purse and mark. Place the raw edge of your leather strap to the front of your bag according to your measurement, and stitch down to secure.
FIVE: here is how your bag should look so far with your straps sewn to the front.
SIX: repeat steps 4 and 5 to attach your second handle to the back panel of your bag.
SEVEN: now to hem the top of your bag, fold down 1/4 inch, then fold down another 1/4 inch and pin. Do not iron! This will melt your image.) Using a regular needle and thread, sew across the top to hem. Repeat to hem the top of the back panel.
EIGHT: switch back to your heavy duty needle and place your small leather scraps over the raw edge of each of your strap ends. Sew all the way around to secure.
NINE: place the front and back panels of your purse right sides together and sew the sides and bottom. Clip corners and use pinking shears to cut excess fabric around the sides and bottom, then turn inside out.

Admire your beautiful mini tote bag! I think the Water Lilies is my favorite; I just love all the beautiful colors (and hopefully my mother-in-law does too :)

The bag is perfect for carrying your essentials, as well as a few extra things. And, coincidentally, the bag is the perfect size for toting around an iPad or small laptop (just make sure to line and pad it and add a snap.)

I hope your loved ones like their new bags too :) If you make one, I'd love to see a picture!

Check out our Link Party Page to see where we link up each week!