Easy Tote Bags (Sewing Project For Beginners)

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Hi there, I made two tote bags using cute cat-printed home decor fabrics. These tote bags are easy and fast to make, a perfect sewing project for beginner sewists. The final size is approximately 34 cm long x 34 cm wide and 9 cm deep. The size is enough to carry books or shopping stuff. The process started with cutting the fabric,  - The tote bag's body: 42 cm long x 38 cm wide (on fold). - Handle: 62 cm long x 8 cm wide (2x). - Bias tape band 4 cm wide. Fold the fabric right sides together and sew both sides. And then, clip and sew the bias tape band to secure the fabric (to avoid fraying). Cut the corners, 3 cm x 3cm square, after the seam allowance. Sew the corner and secure it with bias tape band ( both sides). Here is the look after I sew the corners. I work on the handles by folding them in half and then clip the seam allowance 1 cm inside. Fold the seam allowance 1 cm inside and fold the fabr...

Batik Shirtdress


I finally finished my UFO from March, I'm so glad. My first plan was to make a blouse but I changed my mind the day I cut the fabric, I saw the border print and I felt terrible if I didn't use it. So, I lengthened the pattern down until my knee. And to make the shirtdress more stylish, I sewed a black slipdress to wear under it. In this case, I skip the buttons and let the dress open. I love the look and I will wear this set more often for sure. 

I used Norma blouse Ottobre design pattern S/S 02/2018 size 38, lengthened the hem until my knee, omitted the buttons, shortened the sleeves and made a full arm adjustment. 
And for the fabric, I used Indonesian batik in red, a gift from a friend for my birthday last year. 

The process of making this dress was lovely and relaxing, I started it in March and then I stopped. Only in July I pick the pieces up again and started sewing them. 
As shown below, I managed to capture the progress. The only difficult part was sewing the collar, I did a lot of basting before sewing and I used black bias tape to finish the collar. I love the result, it looks neat and clean.




The rest of the progress was according in the usual manner, I sewed the back darts, attached and sewed the sleeves and hand stitched the front plackets to the bodices. The last part was to sew the hemline and I'm done. 

I forgot to take pictures of the inner dress to show my hand stitching, so here is the finished dress both on my dress form and on me. I love the look, a lovely dress to wear every day without feeling too much dressing up.







About the slip dress, I used my self-drafted pattern and I made two slip dresses before. So it was an easy and quick project to sew.
The black drapey fabric, black sliders and rings were from my stash, I was happy I had all things and I realized that I also had a few black fabrics in my stash for other makes.



That's it for today, happy weekend and happy sewing. I will show you more finished garments soon. I managed to sew one more swimsuit (UFO), a kimono cover-up and a simple sleeveless dress 💗💗

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