I made a lot of Christmas gifts this year, way more than I normally do. Part of the reason is because I can finish a lot more when I’m sewing than when I’m cross stitching. A made quite a few smaller gifts but this was one of the bigger ones I did and I am so proud of how it turned out.

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This project comes from the book Fat Quarters: Small Fabrics, More Than 50 Big Ideas and I modified it a bit.

For the bottom of the bag, instead of doing a thin bookshelf and then white again, I used one thick piece of brown canvas. I thought this would be the perfect library tote and using the canvas gave it a sturdier bottom for if it was filled with books.

The pattern calls for a cotton webbing to be used as the strap but I made my own. I also attached it in between the lining and the outer piece instead of on the outside of the bag. I also added an inner pocket.
And finally, instead of just using one white fabric for the background, I used a variety of different low volume fabrics. ‘

I loved this project a lot, going through my fabric selvages to find ones that would make interesting book spines was fun. I’m really happy with how it turned out and I think it was the perfect gift for my book loving sister.