Red Panty Tote Bags...Scraps United!

I posted about my Sewing Room reorganization last month, which went very well, thank you! The space isn't as beautiful as those in my books, or on TV, but I'm not those people! It works for me, and you can walk right in and get to everything. In fact, sometimes during the day I do that, just walk in, look around, and take a bit of pride in the fact that there is still floor space!


As part of my clean out, I got rid of a lot of fabric to various places. After sewing up a storm for the Red Panty "Fall Collection" (I love saying that) I had a bunch of scraps left over from all the thrift shop clothing I used. I tried to be realistic and saved pieces that were large enough to be of some use later, but I decided to take the smaller bits and cut 4" squares out of them. I didn't really have a plan when I started, other than to reduce the bulk of my stash.


Then I had an epiphany, and this is what I came up with: cute little Tote Bags from the same cloth as my clothing! I used 32 - 4" squares, set up 4 x 8, and a good friend who is an interior designer had given me a leftover bolt of this great ribbed serge fabric in green, and it was just enough to line 6 tote bags, including a inside pocket where I sewed my label, and do all the straps. So not only did I make good use of the linen thrift store clothing scraps, I reduced the size of my stash by one of those big cardboard tubes! For one tote, I used the front of an orange blouse, complete with the button placket and chest pocket!


I think the bags turned out sweet; my daughter tried to grab one to take back to school with her, but then she has a bag fetish like other people have a shoe fetish. I'll be dropping off 6 bags at the gallery that is selling my clothing, and I hope people like them as much as I do!