The first tote bags

Since I learned to sew, I have always made bags. But about a year ago I got serious about it. It started when I began to notice references to "placemat purses" on blogs I read. So I did a search and found a couple of good tutorials. Here are a few:

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=94934.0 placemat purse instructions
http://www.amysfavorites.com/house-aamp-home/74/40 placemat purse instructions
http://www.jcarolinecreative.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=JC&Screen=TOTE placemat tote

Just so you know, a purse is made of one placemat and a tote is made of two. I like mine with a lining and a pocket.

With these bags, the choice of placemats makes all the difference. These are made with Crate and Barrel placemats. There is a Crate and Barrel outlet store in Kittery, ME that I always go to when I visit my family in Maine. They have wonderful placemats (and dish towels) that I have made bags out of. They sell each placemat individually which is a plus. I tried TJ Maxx but often their placemats are sold in groups of 4 and their selection is not as nice. Here's a link to Crate and Barrel online sale items: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/table-linens-napkin-rings/sale/1. If you are in a hurry, placemats are backed so you don't have to do a lining. The retro circles look cool.

Flickr has 290 pictures labelled "placemat bags". Here's the link: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=placemat%20bags&w=all . These will give you more great ideas.

My next post will be about the Buttercup Bag designed by MadeByRae. I think it is the most popular free bag directions available on the web. It's very cute and I'll share tips to make yours look great.