Tree Totebag
April 3rd, 2007 by Jen LoveI saw this bag recently in a clothing magazine but decided of course to try and make my own.
I drew the leaf and tree shapes out on cardboard and cut them for a pattern. Then cut the pieces out, arranged the order, and pinned each peice. This was fun since they could be kinda scattered. The time consuming part then was stitching each leaf.
The bag in the picture was stitched entirely in white but I alternated the thread matching the 4 colors of felt I used for the leaves. I embroidered the felt tree trunk in light brown to make it stand out against the indigo corduroy I chose for the bag.
When all of the embroidery was done I sewed up the sides and added a floral lining, which I doubt the original has. Overall, I am pretty happy with the attempt. What do you think of my version? Wait, you haven’t gotten to the best part yet!
The cost of theirs: $25.00
The cost of mine: -$2.50
April 3rd, 2007 at 8:45 am
okay, I know I suck at math, but what’s the -$2.50 for? Are you factoring in the free floss and felt I gave you??
April 3rd, 2007 at 8:52 am
Well, it cost Someone $2.50. Actually the corduroy was free from my mom, the floss and brown felt came from Candace. (I am a cheap crafter!) But the other colors, calico lining and several hours of sweat were all mine! I’ll let you buy your floss back Candace if you want, for $25.00!
(Honestly, I will return the leftovers!)
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:05 am
I like your bag better!
The colours are so vibrant… and I ADORE the lining fabric! Good job! 
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:03 am
WAY CUTE! I’m going to try something like this.
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:24 am
Very cute! I am going to have to dig out the felt!!
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:32 am
So wonderful! I love your take on the bag and I love the lining you chose.
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Hi,
I am THRILLED that you submitted your wonderful blog to Delightfulblogs and know the other gals who use the directory to discover new blogs will enjoy it as much as I did.
Also, if you have a chance I’d love to have you check out our sister site, Delight.com. We just launched and think you’d get a kick out of the products we feature.
Best,
Lynda Keeler
P.S. I just finished reading the Amy Sedaris book and loved it!
April 3rd, 2007 at 1:52 pm
So cute you did a wonderful job!
April 3rd, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Clever girl. Saving money is good. Saving money making wonderful things is better.
April 3rd, 2007 at 2:27 pm
jen~~
i like the way your tree looks “fuller” ..the way the leaves are arranged. and the colors are just perfect. i have been daydreaming about your bag all day (since i saw the WIP last thursday!) i love love the way it turned out! wonderful job!
i like you bag better!!!
steph
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:05 pm
I think your bag is cuter than the original! I love the dark background – good choice!
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:08 pm
What a super cute bag! You can send me one
April 4th, 2007 at 3:11 am
That is SO cute! and leads to so many possibilities.
April 4th, 2007 at 3:13 am
See, now I just need to get my but to doing some trees! I’ve been checking out some recently that have been done with huge round patches then embroideried around and I just love them…but then though I should do something different. But I’m going to do what I like! It is for me after all!!! It looks great, and I love the color of the leaves!
April 4th, 2007 at 3:18 am
Love it! You did a great job.
April 4th, 2007 at 4:33 am
whoa! what an awesome bag!!! do you think you’ll be selling them?
April 4th, 2007 at 5:04 am
I like your version even better!
April 4th, 2007 at 5:32 am
WOW! Thanks ladies!
I plan on selling this bag at the Cuirim Craft Fair that we are having here in Virginia later this month. I also hope to start an online store up soon too so check back in the next few weeks for my link! It was fun to make and I can’t wait to make more designs for bags and little girls shirts too! Any suggestions?
April 4th, 2007 at 6:41 am
Oh! That is so cute! I like it a lot better than the original, actually. It’s a little sharper and cleverer. Awesome job. I’m inspired to try this one myself
April 4th, 2007 at 8:50 am
Yours is much prettier!! Your colors are vibrant and really stand out. Love that indigo cord and lining. Your tree leaves and their placement look better too! love it!
April 5th, 2007 at 10:44 am
so cute, Jen! i can’t wait to make something with felt now! i’m dying to try!
April 9th, 2007 at 10:50 am
Totally cute! And way more personal and fun than the original.
April 10th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
[...] *I’ve been needing a heavy-duty bag for toting library books, but I don’t want something ugly (all I can picture when I think ‘heavy-duty’ is a plain canvas bag that will inevitably get dirty and have brown and gray smudges all over it- ew). Jen at Crafty Daisies shared this bag she just made, and it’s inspired me; perhaps I can de-ugly a canvas bag with a cute felted design on the front? Hmm. I’ll have to think about this one. [...]
April 16th, 2007 at 9:46 am
This is so lovely…what a fantastic job you’ve done!
* feels the urge to stock up on felt *