Placemat Basket or Tote

There are many versions of this easy project of turning a placemat into a tote. The following tutorial is my version of this simple DYI project. To start with I used very sturdy placemats I found at World Market on sale for $1.49. A real steal! They worked perfectly for making little catch all baskets and little totes.

The following pictures shows a two added details. One is the monogram letter. If you are going to add any detail that would require sewing it's a good idea to attached it before you sew up the sides of the bags. I always learn the hard way.

I also showed how you can make little pockets for pencils by sewing along the edge of the seam.