Tote bags

For Christmas this year, we decided to give home made gifts to some of our friends and my co-workers.  I found a super easy tutorial on how to make tote bags. After a trying experience with my last baby gift ( the 3 month onesie...) I was ready for a new challenge.  I had my super helper, the hubby, assisting in making precise cuts and offering helpful tips along the way.  (background: his mother is a seamstress.  He grew up around machines and would often help her stitch, iron, cut, etc. I hate to admit it,but he does know a thing or two about this...) Once we had our first bag, we realized the dimensions were a little small (12x12).  We decided to tweak the pattern by increasing dimensions somewhat.  THEN, we had the genious idea of turning it into a wine tote.  We REALLY tweaked the dimensions and this is what we created:

The best part is each bag is reversable.  I've given 4 of these away so far with a bottle of wine in each (thankful for the reverse stitch) and have had raving reviews.  Makes the perfect gift bag!  Out of all the fabric I purchased for this initial project (to make 3 totes), I've created 12 gifts so far!