Ruffled Tote Bag

I’m a skirt wearin’, French-inspired, headband lovin’, pink adoring, party planning, ruffle obsessing, GIRL!

And I believe my little girl is following in my footsteps.

Yesterday at Ikea (her first time since she was a toddler), she shrieked at the sight of the decorated rooms. She kept saying, “I could LIVE here! I could WORK here! I could SLEEP here! I LOVE it!”

And then she saw the kids rooms all set up.

And she went officially nuts.

Oh, yes, she did me proud.

And then the cuteness wore off when she was in need of a nap on the way home. Meltdowns are never cute, am I right ladies?

Now, I know what you’re wondering – what’s the deal with all these pictures of the bag on the chair?

Well, I was inspired by this post on Susie Harris’ blog and just plain fell in love with the ruffle bags she made. I mean, how can you not? Seriously.

I lugged out the sewing machine and got to work! Susie posted great instructions for making it on her blog, but I’ll just give you some tips as well. Oh, and by the way, I’m a VERY amateur seamstress and am just learning how to sew, so you really don’t need to be an expert to make these! I promise! It just takes some time.

What you’ll need:
-Set of 3 canvas tote bags from Wal-Mart (around $5 for 3 – in the craft section)
-1 yard of fabric (I used unbleached cotton fabric from Wal-Mart that was around $2/yd)
-Silk flower embellishment or whatever you want to use – I got the flower at Hobby Lobby a few years ago.

Cut the fabric into 6 strips 4 1/2″ wide and seam all edges. You could do wider strips if you wanted wider ruffles. Basically, you can make it however you want.

You’ll ruffle the strips, then sew them onto the bag. I just put ruffles on the one side of the bag, but you could do both if you wanted. I just got impatient and ran out of time, so I did it the easy way!

Isn’t it a fun summer tote bag? You must try it! Let me know if you have any questions!