I have a girls holiday booked in June and I just can't find a beach bag I like that is the right size and light enough to roll up in my suitcase. I am too impatient to wait until all the summer stuff is in the shops so as usual I turned to my sewing machine to solve my problem.
We have just had this awesome palm print fabric in at Sew Crafty HQ and I knew as soon as I saw it that it was the one I had to use for this project. Then I couldn't decide if I wanted a shopper style or a clutch bag, so I made both!
This fabric is a little heavier than the normal fabric we have in my shop, it is more like a light weight canvas, so I would recommend using sturdy fabrics for this one, or re-enforcing it with interfacing to give it more strength if you are using a normal cotton fabric. Lets get into the how to!
To make your own shopper/beach bag and matching clutch you will need: 1/2 a metre of canvas weight fabric, 2.8 metres of cotton webbing, 1/2 a metre of bias binding or tape, a 25cm zip, poppers or kam plastic fasteners, good scissors, sewing machine, thread and pins.
1. Start by looping your webbing around and joining the two ends together to create your strap.
2. Cut out a rectangle of your canvas fabric 45cm by 70cm and hem the two shortest ends.
3. Lay out your main fabric and mark the middle of the hemmed edges and pin your strap in place 4-5cm away from the centre pin. Then pull the strap across the body of the bag to the other hemmed edge and again measure 4-5cm and pin the strap in place. Do the same for the other side of the strap evening out the webbing to make the straps the same length on both ends.
4. Sew along the length of the strap to attach it to the body of the bag.
5. Fold the body of the bag, with right sides facing and measure a 4cm square into the bottom corner and mark it with pins.
6. Pin up the open edges of the bag above the square you have just marked. Sew up from the edge of the square to the top of the bag to join the sides together. Then repeat on the other side.
7. Cut out the square you marked out in the bottom corner.
8. Fold out the bottom of the bag so the side seam is in the centre of the cuts you have made and the square is now straight across.
9. Sew along the opening joining the two edges together to create the base of your shopper bag. Then turn your bag right side out.
10. To make the clutch bag (or I use it as a bag to hold my valuables in the open shopper bag) start by cutting another piece of fabric 25cm by 30 cm, then take your zip and pin it with the teeth to the right side of the fabric. Un-zip the zip half way and repeat with the other side.
11. Sew the zip in place then fold the zip open from the fabric and top stitch the fabric down to the zip tape.
12. Take your bias tape and fold it over and sew along the edges to give it some extra body.
13. Insert the tab you have made from the tape into the clutch, making sure you leave a cm or so sticking out.
14. Sew straight down both sides of the clutch bag and cut away any excess fabric
15. Turn the clutch the right way out.
16. Sew or use your popper tool to attach one side of your popper to the end of the tab nearest the bag and the other side of the popper on the far end.
You can then use the loop tab as a wrist strap or you can attach it around the handle of your shopper to keep your valuables safer.
I am in love with my new bag, so much so I have started using it already! I am looking forward to using it in Spain this summer to store all my beach essentials. Am I the only one dreaming of summer sunshine and ice-cream already? I hope not!
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