Recycled Tote Bag

Tonight I just want to post a brief update on my recycled tote bag. Tomorrow (unless I'm feeling less chatty/exhausted from work) I will post a little more about the changes to my blog, some classes I'm interested in, and some other project photos.

I've been trying hard to motivate myself in this dreary month to get some projects finished. The nice thing about the recycled tote bag project is that it's due by February! It's a project competition posted by Craftster and if I want to be in the running, well then I have to have it finished at the end of this weekend. I'll post it for sale on Etsy afterward and depending on how successfully it turns out, I may make some more.

For those of you who follow me on Twitter (not many, I know), I recently posted that I had a great idea for my bag. I'm not going to post the exact details yet, but I'll post two pictures as hints. I knew what I was planning on using for my materials but while I was working on it the other day, I glanced at a piece of the bag and a really great idea popped into my head! I had to IMMEDIATELY find my sketchbook and figure out the logistics. I think it's doable (doable as in, it looks cute AND it's a functional tote bag) but considering that I haven't used a sewing machine in years (it's so much faster than hand-sewing though!), it might be sloppier than intended. And for those of you wondering, no I didn't buy a new machine (I actually have one but something is wrong with it); I borrowed my sister-in-law's. :) Thanks Julie! Anyway, back to the bag. I'm really hoping that no one else has the exact same idea and frankly I've been a little worried to Google it. I'll have to before I post it (I don't want to plagiarize), but I'm going to wait until I finish mine. I don't want to see someone else's and have that unintentionally influence the one I'm making. I know, I'm being so mysterious! Well, my bookbinding coworkers/friends will love it! Check out the photos and ignore my stray threads. :)