Beach bags

I've just had the perfect beach holiday...morning swims, lunchtime daquiris, nanna naps and afternoon walks.  The first thing I did to prepare for my holiday was to sew some new tote bags to replace my worn and ripped bags from a few years ago.  Usually I make totes out of remnants or other fabrics for which I've lost the love, but I've had a bit of bag envy lately, so I broke out the good gear.

First up, Vogue 8485 (View C), using a Japanese cotton from Tessuti.  This bag is a great size and shape for carrying picnic blankets.  I made a few modifications to the pattern.  I eliminated the 2 shorter handles and attached the long strap directly to the bag.  I quilted some bamboo batting into the shoulder strap.

 I added an external zippered pocket.  Very neat, if I do say so myself.

 Here you can see the way Vogue adds the magnetic snap closures to their bags.

I changed the internal pockets to zippered pockets.  When I read through the Vogue bag reviews on PR, changing the internal pockets to zippered pockets seems to be a very common modification. 

 This second bag is the Hotpatterns nomad hobo handbag, currently available as a free download from fabric.com.

 This bag has a square base, so it is very roomy, which makes it great for carting all those snacks and drinkbottles to the beach.

For the exterior, I used 2 different Amy Butler fabrics.  For the lining, I used a stretch terry towelling left over from a baby change mat that I made almost a decade ago.  It felt good to finally clear it out of my stash and it absorbs the condensation from cold drink bottles.  I also changed the pocket configuration on the interior to suit my needs.

I made this next little pouch a while ago, but have only just got around to photographing it.  It is a waterproof pouch, for bringing home all the wet swimmers.  I wish I had made it years ago.

I used this tutorial for a lined, triangular, zippered pouch, only I made the dimensions bigger.  The exterior is cotton twill.  The interior is waterproof PUL, which is not my favourite fabric to sew.