Annie has become a fan of Burberry and was longing for a short, raincoat. Of course, she couldn’t afford a Burberry, so she hunted high and low and found a cute jacket. We were out shopping last week and stopped into a designer consignment shop. They had an adorable, little pink Chanel bag – for $600!!!  And then we spotted a Burberry tote and thought that could be her signature piece. Well, that tote bag was $225! A year or so ago Annie made all her aunts and grandmas flannel scarves. When we got home, she found that she still had that fabric. I dug up some burgundy twill lining, some binding and a purse handle in my stash and went to work.

I recently discovered a new product that is a wonderful bag stabilizer: ByAnnie’s Soft and Stable. It is a foam that can help your totes be strong enough to stand up, but not heavy or hard to sew. I used the Soft and Stable recently in some extra large utility totes. Then, just after I discovered it, Pellon introduced Flex Foam 77. This product is very similar to the Soft and Stable. However, it does not come in large widths. I understand that there is now fusible Flex Foam, although I have not tried it yet.

For this bag, I created a simple patch pocket for the lining. I cut the flannel fabric to size, and then the Flex Foam. I used some fusible web fabric (whose name slips me!) to fuse the foam to the fabric. I cut my purse handles because Annie wanted a short and simple handle. I stitched them onto the bag with a black ribbon covering the end. I added a bias binding to the top.

Annie is thrilled with her bag!

It now sits on her clothes tree in her dorm room!

Several customers have asked if I am selling the bag. I have checked and found that this flannel is no longer available. However, there are many other cute flannels, so contact me if you would like me to make a bag.