DIY Beach Bag

Now, I was on holiday at this point travelling from one place to another by train only, so a sewing machine was not an option (in fact, I had to buy a sufficient amount of thread from a German market.) I had no pins and no idea what this piece of nonsense material would turn out to be, but as it had cost me nothing but a very small amount of luggage space I thought I’d just do what I do best and give it a risky go! (if you’re much like me and make rash assumptions and always hope for the best with your needle and thread, this blog will be very much up your street!) So, start at the bottom with your needle (or if you’re lucky, sewing machine) and stitch from the corner to the place where you want the opening of your bag. MAKE SURE THE MATERIAL IS INSIDE OUT! That way your stitching will be on the insde and you can turn it back when your done and it'll look almost professional! (Keep the bag tied at the top and when you get to the area you think you’d like the opening untie and see if you have enough room to fit your beach/holiday essentials.) Once you are happy with that side of your bag do exactly the same on the other side, making sure you have stopped sewing at the same point on the other side. (make sure little holes are sewn up, if any, at the bottom of your bag to prevent your headphones etc. from falling out.)

The two ends of your material tied acts as a handle so there is no fiddly-ness with that, simply untie your knot when you want to get stuff out. And that’s it! Okay so if you hand stitched it took you a while and it isn’t as well crafted as a bought beach bag, but it’s your own creation and cost you nothing, and that is always something to be proud of!

(mine is a little long and does, when stuffed full of towels and sun lotion, look a bit like a Christmas stocking, but I didn’t mind too much. If yours looks long and stocking-like, just untie your ‘handle’ and cut it shorter before sewing so that the bag hangs less low.) Have fun!

I didn’t have room for a beach bag in my case this summer holiday so I thought I’ll buy one there, beaches are surrounded with shops selling beach related items. However, unemployment does not help when all the beach bags are 20 odd euros! So I thought, I have some left over material from a long, garish skirt that I made into shorts, I’ll put it to good use. I'd cut a very long strip of material from the bottom of the skirt in order to make it short enough to make into shorts. This strip of material was about 200 mm wide and 2 metres in length. If you’re going to make a beach bag in the same way that I did make sure that it isn’t less than 200mm it width or it make be too narrow to make into a bag.
Here is the simple way of going about it. Lay the long strip of material out before you and fold it in half. Tie the two ends of the material in a double knot so that it creates a makeshift ‘handle’ that you are able to put over your shoulder.