Lined Canvas Tote Bag

I have been wanting to make some more bags, so when I found a tutorial for a lined canvas tote bag I knew I had to check it out! The tutorial can be found here and is created by The Inspired Wren.

I followed the tutorial exactly to create my first tote bag (shown in purple). The only thing I changed was I added a zipper pocket to the inside of the bag. You can't really see this, so for all intensive purposes it's the same as the tutorial!

I made the second tote (shown in black and white) as a gift. The recipient wanted more pockets and zip top closure. Hence I used the same base pattern, but added 2 inner zipper pockets, a lot of inner slip pockets, and zip top closure. I also used 4" strips for the handles instead of the suggested 3".

It would have been too difficult to sew the bag together as show in the tutorial, so I used some extra canvas and bound the top of the bag as you would a quilt. I am very happy with the result!

The purple one is starting to show some wear now. I made it this summer and I have been using it as my library book bag, so it has taken a beating! The black one was just finished this weekend and hasn't been used yet. I also added interfacing to help stiffen it up.

I used organic cotton duck canvas for the base and straps of both bags (purple here, black is sold out). For the body of the bag, I used a duck cloth print called Celestial Sun from Hobby Lobby (bought in store, but here is a link to it in another colorway). I spent a lot of time fussy cutting the print fabric to get the center pieces to line up nicely. I think the final effect is totally worth the extra time and fabric needed to achieve this.