Quick Tank-Top Tote

Now that I've done one clothing transformation, I thought I might be up for another. My sister is starting college soon and it was her birthday this week, so I wanted to make her a little tote for her books. She's a bit younger than me (by 9 years), so she can still pull off some of the cute, trendy stuff that I can't. Therefore, I made her a little tank-top tote! I hope she likes it!

This was really super quick. I made it in about an hour, and that included all my trial and error process (about half-way through I realized I did a few steps that were COMPLETELY unnecessary). What you will need:

-Two identical tank tops (mine were from Charlotte Russe)

-coordinating thread

-any embellishments you want to add. I added some silk burnt flowers.

That's it!

Here's my two tanks:

If you bought button-downs like I did, you'll first want to sew down the front to close any gaps between the buttons. You don't want anything falling out of the tote! Sew on one of the existing top-stitches if possible, with coordinating thread:

Next, turn one tank top inside out. Make sure the one you turn inside out is the one you will want on the outside of your tote (probably won't matter if they are identical, but if the gap-stitching from above looks wonky on one, this is a great time to hide it):



Slip the inside-out tank inside the right-side out tank. Line them up really well and pin all the bottom edges together. You'll be pinning through four layers of fabric:

Sew a straight line across the bottom:



 Turn your tote right-side out now. Line up the top of your shirts well and pin all the way around. This is the opening of your tote, so you'll only be stitching two layers together, all around the top:

Now stitch these layers together. Try to make it as neat as possible. My existing top-stitch line was too close to the edge for me to follow it, so I just stitched about 1/8 inch in:

At this point, I cut off the two superfluous straps:

Add your embellishments and you're done! Easy, right? 

This could be made even easier by just using one tank-top, but I wanted mine to be a little heftier, which is why I used two.

And, of course, I have to show off what I made with the Silhouette today. Birthday cards! I actually have two relatives with birthdays this week, so I made two versions:

Happy Sewing!

Linking up to these great parties.

Howdy

Yikes! I've been on a bit of a blogging whirlwind lately, and it seems I've fallen behind this week. But with good reason! We've been a bit busy.
We celebrated Father's Day:
Then we took a short vacation to visit family. And I forgot my camera! So frustrating.
I have still been sewing. Here's the tote bag I made for my mother:

And a quilted birthday card (LOVE these!):

And we spent a little time celebrating my mom's birthday:

Last but not least, we bought a minivan!

I'm not sure how much I'll get done this weekend since it's a holiday, but I am working on a project for the Fourth (we'll see if I get it done or not). Hopefully I'll be back to my regular blogging schedule soon!

I'm Beginning to Think of These Like My Children

You know how after you have a baby, you just can't stop staring at it? I've felt like that with everything I've made so far. The obsession just doesn't seem to be wearing off. In fact, it seems to be getting worse. I had a busy morning yesterday, felt not-so-great, and told myself to just take the day off from sewing. Yet I still had put together most of this bag by 9:00 pm. When I close my eyes at night it's like I'm flipping a Moda catalog open. I've begun dreaming of rulers and seam allowances. But I don't completely hate it.
I really should have written up a tutorial for this tote, but I was using a pattern from allpeoplequilt.com, so I thought it wouldn't be right. However, along the way, I changed a lot of things (5" squares instead of 3", quilted straps, pocket inside), that I might almost just call it my own.

This is by far my most well-finished project (aside from quilts) and I'm a pretty proud mama! I've been pondering over whether or not to start an etsy shop. I think I am a good candidate because I work really fast and I know I could keep an inventory stocked, but like I said, I can't bear to part with these things for now!