Hello, I am Tasha from over at Creation Corner and I am so excited to be here participating in this fabulous knock off series. I love a good knock off. I would have to say that 80% of my ideas start from seeing another product and trying to figure out how to make it myself.
As Summer is just around the corner I have been getting in the mood for a new pool/beach bag. During the summer I find I tote around 3 times as many things (which is saying a lot since I am the mother of 3 boys) then I do any other time of the year. Which means…I need a good big cute bag.
Where did I find my inspiration to knock off today…

5. Get one of your main body fabric pieces and lay it out right side up. Take the ironed ruffle and place it on the main body piece where you want it. Pin it in place.
6. Set your stitch length back to normal and sew the ruffle down. The ruffle side of the bag is done for now. Set it aside.
Pocket Side of Bag:
7. Grab your pocket piece of fabric. Fold it down about an inch and iron it flat.
8. Sew it down.
9. It should look like this when you are done.
10. Grab your second Main Body piece of fabric. Line the pocket so the bottom (non-sewn part) meets at the bottom of the main body piece.
15. Grab the Main Body Piece with the Ruffle sewn on and the Bottom Fabric Piece. Place the Ruffle Main Body Piece right side up. Take the Bottom piece and pin it right side down (so both right sides are facing each other) to the main body fabric piece.
16. (I am serging all my inside sewing so I do not have any raw edges.) Sew the piece together and follow up with serging it. (If you do not have a serger just sew the pieces together. You can pinking shear the edges at the end so they are not as raw if you want to.)
17. Once you have done that iron the fabric open. Then grab your Pocket Main Body fabric piece. Pin the other side of the bottom piece to the bottom of the pocket main body piece.
18. It should be where your raw edge of the pocket fabric is. Sew/Serge it together. Iron this piece open as well. Now, you should have 1 big long main body piece.
Sewing on the sides of the bag:
19. Open your 1 Main Big Body Piece up. Lay it right side up. Take one of the side pieces. (This part can be pretty tricky. Do not get too frustrated. You may have to unpick a little, but that is okay. Read carefully.) Lay the side piece right side down ON TOP of the bottom piece (that is now sewn to the two main body piece.). It should be directly over the bottom piece.
20. Pin it in place at the top.
21. Sew along where you have pinned it BUT only where the bottom piece is at. Do not sew the whole length. Cut out two small squares in the top corners. This is going to help you sew the sides.
22. Now turn the side and pin it to the Ruffle main body side.
23. Sew that side down.
24. Now it is even trickier. Turn the bottom piece to the last side you have not sewn. (On this same side of the bag) Can you see how one side of your bag is forming?
25. Pin it down
26. Sew/Serge it down. (Do not serge until you are done and are sure all 3 sides are sewn right and you like how they all meet.)
NOW DO IT TO THE OTHER SIDE! (Repeat steps 19-26 with the other side piece of fabric) When you are done BOTH sides will be in place and your bag should be formed!
If you are anything like me your will let out a happy sigh of relief because you are almost done!
Finishing the Top of the Bag:
27. Now that the bag is basically formed we are going to finish off the top and then add the handles. First, finishing the top. Grab your iron and the top of your bag. Turn down the top towards the inside of the bag about a 1/4 of an inch.
28. Then turn it down again so there is no raw edge. Pin it in place.
29. Sew down all the way around the bag. Somehow I forgot to take a picture of this step, but you can see how it should look like in this picture.
Making the Handles:
30. Take your two handle pieces of fabric.
31. Fold each of them in half. Iron them down.
32. Open them up. Using the ironed middle crease as a guide fold the bottom up to the middle crease and iron it down.
33. Turn the fabric and do the same to the other side. Iron them down.
34. Fold it back up along the crease. Iron it down.
35. It should look like this.
36. Open up all 4 ends and fold down about a 1/4- 1/2 of an inch and iron it down. Fold it all back up and iron flat.
37. Sew along all the edges. Do this to both handles.
Sewing the Handles Down:
38. Mark the middle of each side with a pin. Then place your handles where you would like to stitch them down.
39. Place a pin in them and sew the handles down on both sides.
40. and 41. You are now done!!! Happiness!
It should look something like this!
Speaking of wow, Vanessa from Little Big Girl Studio is sharing a fantastic mini Boden knock off at Craftiness is Not Optional today- definitely go say hi.