Pleated Tote (Beach bag)

Another great website I stumbled upon one day is www.thimble.ca  I found this tutorial for a pleated tote or beach bag.  I decided to sew this for use as a diaper bag.  I wanted to have a diaper bag that would coordinate nicely with any outfit I wore to church.  My other diaper bag is plain black and great for during the week to wear with t-shirts and sneakers.  This tutorial was fairly easy to follow...and I am a novice to sewing.  There are great pictures and descriptions to help you along.  I'm thinking this would make a great gift for any mom or woman for that matter...who doesn't love to have a new purse!

 There are alot of optional elements you can add to the bag as well....such as a zippered interior pocket and a snap closure.

I decided to add a snap closure...otherwise the contents would be spilling out everywhere I'm sure.  I had never attempted adding a snap to any project but was surprised how easy it was.  I bought a kit from walmart that included fasteners and a tool (prym creative).  It was also very affordable at around 3 dollars for everything.

I also decided to add an interior pocket which was time consuming but well worth the effort.

 And for the lining, I decided to add a bright, bold fabric that maintained the same color scheme as the outer fabrics.  I wanted to have something bright and interesting to look at when I opened the bag.  I know anyone would love to have a bag this cute!