In my opinion, large roomy shopping bags are most relevant for summer trips, beaches, shopping — there are many interesting adventures waiting for us in this time of year :)

Today I propose to sew a handmade bag. We will do that without a pattern using scrap materials. I used a homespun rug with the size of 55 cm x 80 cm (it was new, no one had stepped on it)

In addition, you will need a piece of cotton for the lining of appropriate size, cotton webbing for handles (100-130 cm), a wooden button for the closure and a monochrome thermal transfer for decoration.

First I had to cut a little fringe on the edges of the rug, otherwise, it would interfere.

Fold the rug in half lengthwise and stitch side and bottom seams. Serge the edges, so that they do not fray.

Form the bottom of the bag stitch bottom corners with two seams.

Cut the excess edges and serge them.

Make the lining in the same way.

Put the lining with the right side out on the outer part of the bag made of the rug.

We turn on the edge of the bag and sew a button on one side, then make a loop that will hook this button. It can be made of braid, cord or the remains of the lining fabric.

Put the lining edge under the rug's hem. The loop is placed symmetrically opposite to the button on the other side of the bag. Put in the webbing handles. I made them with a standard shopper length of 60 cm + allowances. Pin all the details with pins or clips to securely fix them together.

Make a seam on a sewing machine along the edge of the hem, it must go through the loop and two handles.

Bend the handles out and stitch them by the upper edge of the bag, fixing their position.

The bag itself is ready, it only remains to make the final decoration with the help of a thermal transfer.

We've got thermal transfers not so long ago, so I'll talk about them a little bit more, to make it clear what we have to work with and why I chose this material.

This is one of the most simple and practical options of thermal transfers, it is absolutely versatile for different materials, it can be used on any fabrics, leather, suede, leatherette, felt, and others. Materials can be of any color or have their own pattern. Resistance to washing and mechanical stress of such transfers is of the highest quality available, it only competes with sublimation. It is possible to wash it an unlimited number of times at temperatures up to 60 degrees. It is great for decorating any finished products, clothing, bags, accessories and even shoes.

Thermal transfers are applied with a household iron as usual. You don't have to cut this print, it is ready for transfer and there is no background on it.

Place the drawing on the product, heat the iron to 160 degrees, turn off the steam and iron it for 15-40 seconds, pushing on the iron. The quality and durability of the coating depends, among other things, on the strength of pressure, so it is better to iron on a flat and solid surface.

Fully cool all materials to the room temperature and carefully remove the plastic backing. If the pattern goes with it, it means that you haven't done enough ironing, just return the sheet in place and iron it again.

So this is what I made :) Have a nice creativity!