Easy Sew Tote

This easy to sew tote began with one store bought place mat.

You can make them twice as deep using two place mats.

This tote was a gift for my granddaughter 

to carry her new set of scriptures in to church.

There are many sites that share variations of such a tote.

Here is a good tutorial on how to make such a  tote:

http://goodideasandtips.com/2010/08/placemat-scripture-case/

I sewed ties on in coordinating fabric for a bow close.

Another idea is to sew on a velcro closure.

Adding the flower in the coordinating fabrics

made it perfect for a little girls tote.

I also made her a matching bookmark.

I cut a  piece of heavy card stock for the center

I used iron on adhesive to cover it with fabric.

The flowers are made out of fabric.

Press lengths of fabric in half, press raw ends of strip inside the fold for a 

nice finish, gather stitch by hand along raw edges,

pull tight, and stitch to other end to create flower.

(Lengths of strips will depend on the size of the flower wanted.)

I used hot glue to stack the fabric flowers

and to add the button center.

Tip: It might be wise to choose a lighter weight placemat. This one (although I love it) was too thick at the top for my sewing machine so I had to hand sew it at the top. I had broke three machine needles before giving in to the hand sewing which ended up being no big deal!  The finished product was all so worth it. She loved it and the materials I used coordinated with her scriptures perfectly.