Our middle daughter asked me if I could make two of her friends tote bags so she could give them gifts.  Both of these girls had purchased gifts for DD#2 and she wanted to return the favor with a tote bag like the one I had made for her (the second tote on that page) that she loved using until an orange highlighter exploded on the inside of it.  She also realized that she fills it too full and the handles could eventually come off or a seam could rip out like her sister’s did if she continued with that behavior.  They are not allowed to carry backpacks to class and she doesn’t like carrying a purse but a book bag can double as a purse and no one is the wiser….well, except that all of her books are HUGE and HEAVY!

I told her that I would NOT make her friend’s totes but I would help HER make them!

We went on a hunt for fabric and found the perfect fabric for one of her friends at the local quilt shop.  She didn’t get the other gift until after that excursion so it was left to my judgement, when I went to the local craft shop, to pick out the other fabrics.  Lucky for me, she LOVED my choices.  She had told me that her other friend liked black and white cows – and anyone who truly knows me and has been in my kitchen would know that I have Holstein cows decorating every wall and flat surface in both the kitchen and dining room (and two or three boxes of them in my closet because we don’t have room for them anywhere else).  I am thinking I’m totally overqualified to be choosing COW fabrics!  🙂

I have only managed to get one of the totes finished but she absolutely loves it!

I would love to share the pattern I used with you but it is about seven years old and I cannot remember where I filed the darned thing <blush>.  I have made a dozen or so of these totes, in all different shapes and sizes, and the pattern had fabulous instructions.  All of them that I’ve made have followed with the pattern designer’s copyright of “for personal use only” and I have definitely got my money’s worth out of that single pattern!