Easy DIY Beach Bag

Since the beginning of the year I have been sewing a bit more. I even learned how to sew in a zipper properly thanks to my friend Melissa over at the Polka Dot Chair. She and I got together last week and made the cutest polka dot purses. I'll blog the details soon. So since Spring Break is fast approaching, and Summer will hopefully find it's way to us, I thought I would make a fun and easy beach bag.
Supplies you will need:
3/4 yard of material of your choice
Thread
Sewing machine
Cording
Scissors
Tape measure

So the first thing I did was choose my material. I feel in love with this kelly green eyelet material that I got on sale at Joann Fabric and Craft Store. I thought it would be perfect because the material was light weight, and since there are holes in the fabric it would be easy to shake the sand out of it! They also happened to have the perfect color cording to match. It was a win, win.
I folded the top of the fabric first, making a 1 inch hem along the top of the bag.

Once both of the top sides were finished, I folded the material in half, and began sewing up the sides. I wanted the bag to have rounded corners, so I rounded the corners as I was sewing along.

Once you round the corners of the bottom of the bag, be sure you turn the bag inside out, and cut little triangles in it like this....

This will help the rounded corners lay better, and you won't have the excess fabric. This also works for just regular straight corners. You should always cut the excess fabric. 

So now all three sides are sewn up, and the top is open. You will then need to add the handles. This is were I used the matching green cording that I had found. You could also sew straps out of the fabric you are using.

I found the middle and then spaced the handles about 5 inches out.

I pinched the cording in the fabric and sewed it in. I wanted to make sure that it was extra secure, so I also hand stitched it too, just to make sure that the cord did not slip out.

This bag is super easy to make, and I am looking forward to using it all Spring and Summer long. Kelly green is fast becoming one of my new favorite colors. It's so bright and cheery.
I was able to fit 4 large beach towels in the bag, plus some sunscreen, so it's a pretty large bag. I love how light weight it feels because of the fabric.

Hopefully you have something fun planned for your Spring Break, or Summer vacay. Try making one of these beach bags, I think you will find it super easy to make. Thanks for stopping by, until next time.
XO~Gretchen