This was written by Leslie for the Miss Matatabi Makers series.

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Tote bags have been on my sewing list for awhile now. And when I saw these lovely Ellen Luckett Baker fabrics in Miss Matatabi’s shop I knew they were a perfect starting point. These fabrics are a nice medium weight cotton linen blend fabric – just what I love! I lined the bags with some pretty Japanese arrows fabric.

 
My little one and I are off on our summer annual road trip tomorrow and this is why I needed new tote bags. One for Anika to fill up with her favourite things to bring along and one really big one that could fit everything needed for beach days. I used a couple of patterns from my collection of Japanese bag books. I ironed on a heavy weight interfacing to the outer fabrics and the combo is the perfect weight for tote bags.

 
One of my all time favourite tote bags had these neat hook closure things (I am sure there is a better word for it) that would help prevent things from falling out of your bag. So I added these to the pattern I was making – and am so happy I did.

 
The beach tote bag is huge. I used one metre of each of the outer fabric and lining fabric -and a bit of denim on the bottom. For the smaller bag I was able to just use half a metre of each of the two fabrics.

 
The Ellen Luckett Baker collection of fabric is super lovely. And I think all of it is that perfect medium weight cotton linen blend. My favourite patterns are these crossed leaves but there are a lot of other great designs to choose from too. I might just have to make some grocery tote bags next – and you should join in on the fun too!!

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Thank you, Leslie! Connect with Leslie on instagram, pinterest, and flickr.