She decided that she wanted to retain the apron straps as the tote bag handles. She also wanted the top to become a pocket. We wanted to retain the feel of the apron, so we decided I would sew the apron down onto a base fabric.

This fabric was cut on the fold to 17″ x 17″ with a 3″ boxed bottom.  I could have made the apron a bit narrower on the sides so more of the under fabric would show.

I cut and pressed under the edges of the apron and stitched it down starting at the top right handle and ending at the left handle. I stitched across the apron to create a pocket and kept the top open so that it would allow access to the pocket.

I then made a lining out of sweatshirt fleece. I removed two patch pockets and used those as pockets on the inside.

I also used two pieces of the waist ties to create a tie to close the top of the bag.