Channeling Audrey

I've been sewing up a storm this summer making curtains and cushions in order to prepare my classroom for the coming year.  I found myself with extra fabric, so I turned to Pinterest for some ideas of what to do with it.  When I saw this super-simple tote bag tutorial on The Inspired Wren, I knew I was on to a winner.

I followed the instructions word for word for my first bag, and had it all finished in under two hours.  It was super cute, but much smaller than I had anticipated.  It will easily hold a few magazines and your phone, so would be a good bag to take to the coffee shop or beach.  

I was hoping for something a bit bigger that I could use as a school bag, so I scaled it up some for my second go (I added 4" to all the dimensions given in the tutorial).  I also used cotton webbing I purchased from Hobby Lobby for the handles since I wasn't happy with the colors I had to work with.  Size-wise it's just about perfect!  The bigger bag will easily fit my computer and several notebooks or binders, plus a water bottle (and more!).  

All the fabric came from an upholstery fabric shop and was heavier weight, so I skipped the interfacing part.  If I was using regular cotton I would definitely add that step to give the bag a bit more stability.  (No I don't have a thing for elephants...I found the remnant on sale and knew I could find something to do with it!)