Guest Post - The Leave the Sand at the Beach Bag

I did a guest post about this bag a while ago, but since we'll be leaving this week and putting it to good use (if the weather cooperates) I thought I'd share it here.

A little background to this project:  We go 'Up North' every summer and spend as many days at the beach of Lake Michigan as possible.  With four kids and some cousins this requires lots of water and sand toys, and so I came up with: The Leave the Sand at the Beach Bag

Confession:  It ended up a bit bigger than I had anticipated, so you may want to scale things down for your needs!

What you need:
Outdoor Canvas or Duck Canvas: 1.5 yards, 58" wide.
2 Mesh laundry bags (I got mine at Dollar Tree - they come in at least 3 colors)
Thread, scissors, pins

Start by cutting your canvas into four equal pieces.  Mine are 39" x 14".
Put those aside and take out the laundry bags.  Cut off the three sewn sides. (green lines)

You'll have one big piece folded in half.

 Cut that piece up the middle.  Trim up the sides so they are as straight as you can get them.  They don't have to be perfect.  The mesh has lots of give!

Now we're going to start sewing.  Layer the mesh and one piece of canvas 'right sides together'.  Sew.  Trim off the extra mesh to even it up to the canvas.

I made a straight stitch seam and then finished the edge with my machine's 'faux serged edge'. You could zig-zag it, or use a serger.

 Next, add another piece of canvas and sew the other side of the mesh.

 You should have something that looks like this.

Repeat for the other side.
Now, at this point you need to fold down the hem along the upper edge of the bag and sew it, leaving about 4 inches un-sewn on each end (for matching up later).

Next is the bottom.  Take a double layer of the mesh and sew it between the two sides.  You will have something that looks like this:

Now for the handles.  Cut strips 3.5" wide that equal up to about 228".  You can lessen that if you want shorter handles.

 Fold in and press the edges 1/2" on each side.  Pin to the bag 11" in from each side.

Make sure to pin the handles evenly, so they match up when the bag is sewn up.

 Sew along each side of the handle all the way around.

 Optional: fold the top part of the handle together and stitch.

 Fold the bag in half.  Pin, matching the sides up, and sew.  Finish upper hem.

 Keep the bag inside out, and at the bottom, fold a triangle of mesh that is the same width as the bottom and sew across the line.

And now you can bring everything but the kitchen sink to the beach, and leave the sand behind.