Colour-in totes

My daughter loves drawing things from her imagination, but she's also fond of colouring in. She often has me print out hideous Barbie pictures from online colouring sites, which she then forces me to colour in with her. Not my favourite activity... but at least it can be done at the table while having a coffee, so I shouldn't complain.

Much more to my taste is this brilliant Ikea fabric, designed to be coloured in. They even sell fabric markers to go with it! The fabric is a sturdy canvas-like cotton, perfect for tote bags (and for dresses, too - Shino of Nutta! posted a gorgeous one just a few days ago). From one metre of this material I made two decent-sized bags as Christmas presents for a friend's kids, plus a little bag for R, as it seemed a bit unfair to make them for the other girls and not for her. And I still have enough left for a fourth bag, so it seems there will be one more victim of colour-in tote mania, yet to be chosen...

To make the totes I copied the dimensions of a smallish reusable shopping bag I had handy, and boxed the corners (if you're looking for a tutorial, Dana's is a good one). The bags are unlined and are very quick to whip up, and their simple design means they should be easy to colour in. Packaged with a set of fabric markers, I think they make a really nice gift. And should R demand that I colour hers in with her, I will be only too happy to oblige. So take that, Barbie!