Smart DIY Toy Bag

This toy back is easy and fun to make - even a beginning sewer can enjoy it. See the full tutorial here:

http://www.clarkscondensed.com/diy/diy-lego-bag-playmat/

1. Fold one piece of fabric into quarters. Each edge needs to be at least 21 (or one inch more than what you want the radius of the finished product should be. Iron the edges, and then starting at one corner, make multiple 20 marks in an arch across the fabric. The more marks you have, the easier it will be to connect the lines and cut! After you've connected the line, cut along the line.

2. Repeat with the other piece of fabric until you have two large circles. I totally forgot to take pictures of this whole process, so if you are confused, this (http://moosages.moosephysh.com/2011/06/24/how-to-cut-a-really-large-circle-from-cloth-without-a-pattern/) is a great tutorial for cutting a circle out of a piece of fabric. If you are very careful, you could even just do one circle, and then trace the other one from the first.

3. Cut three strips of fabric that are 40 long and 3 thick.

4. Sew them together into one large strip. Make sure to put the edges right side together, so the seam doesn't show.

5. Once you have the long strip of fabric, fold the ends in about 1/2 and sew in place.

6. Fold the fabric in half and sew down the long edge until you have a long tube. You don't need to worry about the raw edge, as it will be covered in the end.

7. On the circle of fabric that you want on the bottom of the bag (but will ultimately be on the outside when it's cinched up), pin the tube of fabric around the entire fabric. There should be about a 5 gap between the ends of tube (if there isn't, just cut off a few inches from one of the ends and re-sew.) Make sure to pin the raw edge of the tube on the outside of the circle.

8. Sew the tube to circle using a 1/4 stitch

9. Pin the two circles to each other (right sides together), leaving a 5 or 6 inch gap on the side opposite of gap between the edges of the fabric tube that you previously sewed to the bottom circle.

The rest of the instructions can be found here:

http://www.clarkscondensed.com/diy/diy-lego-bag-playmat/