Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Library-Love Tote


Since we moved to this house over a year ago I've been trying to remind myself to go check out our local library.  I love libraries and spent many afternoons at the one in my hometown growing up.  I was very lucky growing up cuz our library was huge, so I was a little hesitant to try out a new one.  Well I finally went to said new one and not to be cliche but I shouldn't have judged it by its cover.  It's an adorable cozy little library with a personality of its own.  One of the librarians was even nice enough to give me a tour, it being my first time and all.  This library hosts a ton of community programs.  They even have an adult quiet reading room on the second floor away from all the kids downstairs.  Oh and it's also right next to Lilacia Park.  (Side note - The town I live in is known as the lilac village and yes we have an entire garden/park full of just lilacs.  We even have a lilac festival in the spring with a parade, lilac queen, a craft fair and more!  I'll post some stuff about it later cuz I'm running my first 5K during the festival too.  Wish me luck.)  I can't wait for spring to grab and new book and do some reading amongst the bloomin trees.

Anyway, lets not get sidetracked here, Anita.  I decided with my renewed love for all things library I would have to make myself a library bag to carry all my goodies in.  I've been wanting to do some embroidery work lately so I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone.  Here's what I came up with.

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature.
It will never fail you. - Frank LLoyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright is by far my favorite architect so when I was looking through nature quotes on the internet and stumbled upon one from him it just seemed perfect.  Sadie and I also love bunnies, although I'm sure it's for different reasons.


I forgot to take process pictures but here's the lowdown.  The bag is made from heavy weight organic cotton canvas and lined with a simple blue cotton.  It's got nice wide straps to carry heavy loads of books and a little pocket inside to hold my keys and wallet so I don't have to take a purse too.  Genius!


I did the embroidery work first.  I find it easier to add a little interfacing to flimsy cotton when I'm doing embroidery work for added stability.


When that was done I squared up my patch and turned the sides under by about a 1/2 inch.  Starch was really handy in keeping those edges tamed.  Then I did applied a double sided fusible interfacing to the back of the embroidered panel and ironed it to the outside fabric of my bag.  A little top stitch around the edge and the panel was done.


The rest was just putting together a standard lined tote. (There's tons of tutes for these.  Just google it)  All in all it took me about a weekend with all the hand stitching I did.  Pretty easy and straight forward but I have to say this bag is my current favorite thing.  As always this craft is Sadie approved.


What was the last unexpected thing that inspired you?

Craft on!
Anita

22 comments:

  1. Great bag, thanks for sharing.

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  2. great post, love the bag and the dog! thanks for sharing this at my party.

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  3. Adorable dog!! Love the tote bag, too. I have a 'thing' for bags like that. :) Am now your newest follower! Glad to have come aross your blog!

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  4. Cute bag!!! I love bags! I have a lot of bags...but I think I need another one! I don't have a library bag :)

    Ashley
    www.simplydesigning.blogspot.com

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  5. aw very cute...and so is your dog!!!

    Thanks so much for linking to "20 Below Thursday"! :)

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  6. My very first post on my blog is "I love totes!", and I love this tote. Very cute!

    I found you at Thrifty Thursday. I hope you'll follow me back at www.meldreamsoften.blogspot.com

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  7. I think you secretly picked your town because of the lilacs and your LOVE of the color purple.

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  8. Very cute! And I love that you thought to put in small inside pockets for keys and such. Your dog is precious, by the way. :)

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  9. what a happy little bag to be carrying around, and what a happy little puppy to be following you around. What could make life any better, hey? came to your blog via saved by love...

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  10. Very nice! I use Target re-usable bags to go to the library. Ha! Yours is much nicer than mine.
    BTW, you linked up to my pillow case link party, so I moved you down to the regular EBTKS link party. Sorry for the confusion! Thanks for linking!

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  11. I love the bunny!!! Visiting from Momma's Kinda Crafty.
    ~Kimberlee
    www.TheSpunkyDiva.com

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  12. Anita and Kelly, I love anyone who loves to go to the library -- days gone by kind of thing to some like the art of letter writing -- I mean handwritten letters sent by mail! So make it pretty -- love embroidery Terri www.morningdewdrops.typepad.com

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  13. Thank you SO MUCH for linking up to WHASSUP WEDNESDAY!!! So CUTE!:)

    Hope to see you next Wednesday!

    xoxokara

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  14. Very cute! Great job! Thanks for linking up!

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  15. I love visiting the library too...I need a bag to help keep my items together too, great idea! Thanks for linking up!

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  16. I'm always the fool walking out with books in my arms...I need a few of these...

    Thanks for linking to Creative Juice Thursday! I hope to see you back this week {party opens on Wed night @ 8pm CST}

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  17. This is a cute idea. :) I love going to the library too! Not to hang out there though, it's not that fun (our libraries are NOT cozy or fun to hang out at), i just grab the books i want and get out of there, i love reading at home! :)

    Tnx for linking up at my party!

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  18. I really like embroidery projects!!! And this one turned out so cute!!! A library bag is a good idea too! Thanks for sharing on Fancy This Fridays!!

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  19. Beautiful quote and beautiful embroidery! Incredible, really! Your town sounds wonderful (and must smell exquisite)! I love lilacs! I live in "Butterfly town" -- sounds like our towns would get along swimmingly! *smile* I'm a huge fan of libraries as well, and have my own hometown library to thank for many happy childhood memories, inspirations, and a lifelong love of books!

    So happy that you linked-up at "A Little Birdie Told Me..."

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  20. There's something wonderful about that hand embroidery look... you just can't go wrong!

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  21. Anita-that's just too darn cute! I love bunnies too!
    gail

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