my new beach bag

Summer has arrived in full force. It's hot and muggy and the kids are on their summer break, so we try to make the best of it and go swimming as often as we can. Which of course means I needed a new beach bag :).

I've gone back and forth on quite a few designs but in the end I decided to make myself a Market Bag from one of my most favorite sewing books Handmade Style by Anna Graham.

This bag is fabulously roomy (it fits at least three beach towels easily) and way more stylish than most beach bags one can buy at the store, I think ;)

I used yarn dyed Essex Linen in black for main body and a mix of my own screen printed fabric as well as some adorable prints I bought from Krista (spotted stones) for patchwork bands.

I went with olive green canvas for lining. It's wonderfully sturdy and there was no need to add interfacing which is always nice. 

I followed directions in the book to make one zipper pocket and then I added an extra zipper and slip pockets to the other lining as well as a snap hook for my keys to make this fabulously large bag more functional.

I love how it turned out and I'm quite sure this bag will get used a lot over the next few months. Yay for stylish and useful projects !!!

Happy summer to you all! Svetlana