Windmills Tote Bag

I have recently enrolled upon an e-course hosted by the brilliant Elsie Larson over at A Beautiful Mess. A lot of the blogs I follow post DIY Fashion tutorials helping you to re-vamp your wardrobe and create styles you love from the high-street at a fraction of the cost. I've always enjoyed doing this myself, especially through my love of vintage clothing but not of the unflattering hem lines and scratchy material that comes with it. As a teenager, I would often take a pair of scissors to a long 70's style dress given to me by my grandmother or hack the sleeves off men's tshirts to make little tank tops. So I have a lot of my own ideas but still feel in need of inspiration from time to time. 

When I came across the DIY Dress-up E-course on Elsie's blog, I thought it might be fun and interesting to have a go at my first online course. I've loved studying for my Interior Design diploma through distance learning so I know that working in my own time and submitting assignments online really suited me.

This tote bag was the second project on the course. I've never made a bag and was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was. I'm not such a massive fan of tote bags but love this Windmill fabric I bought from work and thought it would look great jazzed up with a bright red cotton lining and a matching Russian Doll bag-charm. The charm is still a work in progress so I will post some more pics when it's finished!