Tutorial Tuesday: Hobo bag, modified

Okay, so my plan for Tutorial Tuesday is to either create my own tutorials or to show items I have made using other bloggers' wonderful tutorials. Today is the latter. Last weekend I was in need of a gift for an 8 year old girl so I created the following bag for use as a beach bag.

I used simply modern mom's Hobo Dance Bag Tutorial and found it very easy. I made only a few minor modifications to her original tutorial. After cutting my outside purse pieces, I added an applique letter to the front (the polka dots make it blend a bit) using Skip to My Lou's free printable letters for applique. I printed and cut out the letter I chose to use. Then I flipped my letter backwards and traced it on the paper side of a piece of Heat n' Bond.

 I cut out the Heat n' Bond letter and ironed it to the wrong side of my fabric following the instructions of the package. I then cut out my letter again, removed the paper, and ironed it to the front piece of the purse on the right side. I then machine stitched close to the edge of the fabric using a straight stitch. You could do this using a zigzag stitch as well, or you could handstitch it down using a blanket stitch.

I also added a pocket on the inside of the bag to keep little items that 8 year old girls like to carry around. Plus, I just can't make a bag without a pocket! I added the pocket at the beginning as well, right after cutting all the pieces for the inside and outside of the bag. I also added some medium weight interfacing to the outside bag pieces to give it some substance. I have noticed that some tutorials add their interfacing to the lining fabric but I like to put it on the outside fabric as it also keeps it smooth.

Instead of using  plain strips of fabric for the handles, I created tubes of fabric with which to create the braids. This was done because I used a cotton fabric rather than a canvas type fabric like in the original tutorial. I really didn't want to have to deal with fraying fabric. I just cut 2 1/2" strips of material in the length she recommended and created a long rectangle. Next, I folded the rectangle in half with right sides together to create a long, skinnier rectangle.  You can iron it if it helps you. Align the edges and sew a 1/4" seam along the edge using a straight stitch. 

You can then use attach a safety pin to one end and feed it back through so that it is right side out. After creating 3 tubes of both fabrics, I used the original instructions to attach one side of the handle and continued with her instructions from there.

I LOVE this bag. The 8 year old's mom has already hinted how much she loves it as well. I think she'd like one of her own. What's rolling around in my head right now is how to modify it in order to add a zipper. To add a magnetic clasp would be very easy to do. Hope you enjoy!