17 Shades Printable and Towel Tote

How is it already August?  I feel like summer started yesterday!  So I decided I needed to whip out a summery printable, and I just bought some awesome new sunglasses so I guess they were on my mind when I made these...

 Click to download purple shades

 Click to download retro shades

 Click to download orange shades

Click to download teal shades

Click to download collage of shades

And Jade just so happened to be going to the beach and she is gonna show you how she made a towel tote with my printables stuck all over it!  

Here's a BONUS printable made especially for your beach towel tote!

(right click and save)

Have you all taken a beach trip already?  Well, if you have, then take another one!  Because I've got a cute beach tote tutorial here for you!  

First of all, you can use any beach towel, but I must tell you that Target had these towels in the cutest colors for $4 and under!  You can make alterations to this bag, so you may need a different amount of towels than I have depending on how many pockets you want.  My bag has four small inside pockets and 1 large pocket on the outside.  So I needed:

1 large towel (bag)

1 hand-towel  (outside large pocket)

4 washcloths  (inside small pockets...one for each family member)

You'll also need:

Sewing machine

Matching thread

Your pick of Jamie's fabulous printables printed on printer fabric

Scissors

Extra-large eyelet kit (make sure you get the KIT if you don't have one and not just the eyelets)

Iron on letters (optional)

Measuring tape

Hot glue gun

Hammer

Now, unless you have some huge monster sewing machine, you'll want to sew the printable on the front of the bag before actually sewing the bag because there is just so much bulk to try and move around.  So you'll want to fold up the towel to the size its going to be finished and pin the printable to the center of the bag.  I made sure a rolled up beach towel fit in mine, then folded the sides in and made a note of how far that was.  That's how far you'll make your seam when you sew up the sides of the bag.  And I folded down the top flap because I didn't want the bag that deep.

So print your desired sunglasses, pin on the towel, and then sew it on to the front of the bag with a cute zigzag stitch.  Then pull some of the strings on the corner of the fabric down along the side to fray the edge a bit to give it some style.  

 

And while you are at it, you might as well do the exact same thing with the lotion and oils printable.  Only this will be a smaller version on your hand-towel.  But just be sure and measure the hand-towel pocket on your large towel to see how big you want it.  Lay everything out together and make sure it is all going to fit before you start sewing. 

My sewing machine couldn't handle all the fabric, so I hot glued all the pockets onto the bag.  I honestly don't know how this will hold up compared to sewing, but I'm not putting really heavy things in there, so I think it will last...at least until I get a new idea for ANOTHER beach tote. Haha.  I can totally see my husband rolling his eyes right about now.  (I love you Hun!)  My hubby reads my blog...isn't that so cute...do your husbands read your blogs?  Aren't the men in our lives the best?!  You guys are the best!  We love how you support our crafty impulses!  

Ok...tangent over...I promise.  Keep reading.

SEW YOUR BAG.  A seam up each side (ex.  my seams were 2" in because that's how far I folded it in earlier when I was measuring everything) with the top folded down to your desired depth of the bag.

SEW UP THE REST OF THE POCKETS.  The pockets were a little different.  Instead of folding them in half, I folded them in thirds and sewed up the sides of the bottom third.  Turn it right side out and then you'll have a flap to cover the pocket.  Like this:

  You know how when you get to the beach, someone always says, "oh I left my ring on", or  "I don't want my watch to get wet" or "I don't want my sunglasses to get smashed in the bottom of the bag." 

Well, I solved that problem.  I have one pocket, at the top, inside of the bag , for each member of my family.  Glasses, rings, watches can go safely inside.  I attached some velcro to keep them securely closed.  Oh, and the best part... they are personalized with iron on letters!  

But before you hot glue the completed pockets in, put the eyelets in the bag.  When you buy the eyelet kit, it has super easy directions on how to use it on the back.  It is so easy.  I used a sharp knife to slice a hole where I want the eyelet, then you are ready to put it in.  

TIP:  Don't make the hole too big.  Just make a small opening, and then push the eyelet through so the fabric is tight around it. 

NOW, for the handle.  I wanted a frayed rope look for my handle, and then my father-in-law had a great way to wrap the area that will sit on your shoulder so the fibers wouldn't be uncomfortable, and the rope ends, so they wouldn't come undone.  It turned out so cute!   It's called 'rope whipping.'  The pictures I got of him doing it didn't really turn out, and it's actually a very easy thing to do, but it's hard to explain.  If enough people want to do this to their handle, I might post a video tutorial, but I'm sure you can find them on the internet too.  If you would like to do a "whipped rope" handle, you'll need:

Hemp rope

Coordinating color yarn

Instructions on 'Rope Whipping'

TIP:  Make sure before you go to buy rope, you measure how big your eyelet it so that the rope will fit through it. 

This is how it will look.  

 And you're done!  You've got your HUGE beach tote that is super STYLISH and CUTE and carries EVERYTHING!  Look my daughter might even fit in it!  :)