Personalizing your Canvas Tote Bag

Hi everyone.  It is me Jeannie from The Polka Cabana with my first Bloom Girl post.

I am going to show you how to turn this awesome canvas tote into something that is uniquely yours.

What I did to start, was to use a 12 x 12 scrapbook sheet protector.  I cut off the edge with the holes and used masking tape to adhere it to the bag and my stitching lines.

Using a combo of straight and zig zag stitches, I made 3 pockets that have open tops to insert "things" from the top.  The card stock is there for reference only at this point.

Next, I took a scrap of fabric that I had gone around the edges with pinking shears and sewed it to the front of the tote. 

I will make a note here.  You do end up really manipulating the tote through the machine. If I had it to do over again, I would NOT use a page protector, I would use a heavy duty, crystal clear vinyl.  It would handle the rough treatment better, I think. 

For the handles, I took a really wide ribbon and cut it in half and each half on one handle.  The cut edge, I made sure and used a tight zig zag stitch on.

Now, to customize the back, I took a fat quarter and made a rectangle approximately  16" x 10".

I sewed the ribbon to the front of the fabric before sewing to the tote.

These are the pockets all dolled up with Bloom Girl fun stuff.

This is the Bloom Girl Karlie Stamp piece in the far right pocket.

Yep, I seem to sew on everything!

This is a small card with a saying that goes along with Karlie's theme. 

This is in the middle pocket.

This is a custom notepad in the far Left pocket dressed up with some Bloom Girl chipboard pieces, flowers and a paper clip.

Here are some pictures of the final product.

Front side..

Back....don't you love it?

Oh, I should mention, my 23, year old son got that fabric for me;)

Just so you have an idea of HOW BIG this tote is...

To take pictures, I put 2 full 12 can boxes of soda inside this and still had room!

That's a lot of room!

I hope you've enjoyed my post today.  

This has been Jeannie from The Polka Cabana with today's Bloom Girl Design Team post.