I created this bag using some fun fabrics I found over on fabric.com. The main theme (the flip flops) is the Ann Kelle This and That collection. Interior has a fun purple and white chevron (also Ann Kelle). I used some mesh to create water bottle pockets (4 total). It has a zip top, a stash pocket on the front between the straps, and a zipper pocket in the lining. The bag is pretty big. You can easily get 4 beach towels in it, along with other items, which is perfect for a family of 4!
Finished dimensions are about 18" high by 22" wide and 8" deep.
I was going to do a tutorial on this but I can't make heads or tails of my notes I wrote down (and scratched out several times). But there are a few things I learned as I created this bag!
Straps
I made them 2" wide with the flip flops on the front and the same canvas from the bottom of the bag on the reverse side of the straps. I didn't take good pictures of how I pieced these together to make the canvas "peek out" from behind the flip flop fabric. However, the basic gist of it was that I cut the canvas about 4" wide and folded it in to the center. Then, I cut the flip flop fabric just a bit smaller and folded in to the center, then overlaid it on top of the canvas with the raw seams together.If I were to do this over again, here's a note: I would have used the matching gray thread in the bobbin and the white thread on top when I attached the flip flop fabric to the canvas so that the bottom stitches would have blended in with the canvas on the reverse side of the straps. In the photo below, you can see the white against the gray canvas on the inside of the straps. Not my favorite result, but it honestly didn't occur to me that you could put a different color in the bobbin. Lesson learned.
When I was ready to attach the straps to the bag, instead of stitching over the stitches used to attach the flip flops to the canvas, I chose to use a gray thread and stitched the straps to the bag on the canvas "peek a boo" area. I think that turned out pretty well.
Elastic
This was my first attempt at using elastic and had to do a few trial and error runs before I found the right approach.The finished mesh pocket width is about 5.5" with the seams "sandwiched" 1/2" behind the strap and in the side seam. If you were to open this bag up, there is a LOT of zigzag going on to make sure it holds. It better hold.
I cut the channel for the elastic to 7.75" x 2" and used a straight stitch to attach the elastic to the channel. I tested one with a zigzag and I didn't like how it looked, so went with the straight stitch. I did use a zigzag at the ends as well as to attach the mesh to the channel (before I added the elastic).
Iron On Vinyl
Originally this bag was going to have a waterproof bottom, and since I couldn't find any oilcloth locally that did not resemble a picnic table, I tried some iron on vinyl. It ironed on fine. However, because of the way this bag was being assembled, it required topstitching the bottom to the bag body. I made a few stitches through that iron on vinyl and nope...it didn't look good, so I scratched that and just went with the canvas sans vinyl.Interfacing
I wanted this to stand up on its own, so I used Pellon 71F one-sided ultra-firm fusible interfacing. This stuff is kind of awesome. I made sure to cut the interfacing shorter to account for the seam allowances, and I think this worked out pretty well. It was a little hard to turn inside out, but fortunately I didn't assemble this bag in a way that required me to pull it through a hole. Which leads me to the next lesson learned...To Turn Out or Find Another Way...
I knew that the interfacing was not going to really allow me to do the typical "leave a gap in the lining and turn the whole thing right side out" approach. So, I pieced together the zipper casing, sewed it to the lining first, and then inserted the lining into the bag (right sides out). I marked a line on the casing where I wanted it to line up with the top of the outer bag but still be a little bit recessed. I then clipped the lining/zipper casing to the outer and topstitched around the bag.