DIY Spring tote bag - 2 ways

It's spring, so it's the perfect time of the year to sew a new tote bag. The one I'm showing you today was actually a custom request from the mother of a friend. She game me the measures she needed and her only additional request was to have a button to keep the bag closed. Other than that, I was free to sew it the way I wanted - just my kind of project!

As I needed to get it done over the weekend and my time to sew is always limited, I didn't make a tutorial specifically for this bag, but as it's actually a mix between my 20 minutes lined tote bag and the reversible bag with pocket, you should be able to replicate it by looking a those two tutorials.

This spring tote bag can be made two ways - with or without the button closure, as this is added only after the bag is fully finished. 

I decided to sew the bag using two different fabrics, and then used the blank one for the lining, with the inside pocket made with the flowery pattern for contrast. The lacy ribbon and bow were added as an afterthought after the bag was sewn. 

And I also created a flat bottom to the bag by sewing off triangles on each side: 

Here's how the bag looked before I added the buttons: 

To add the button closure I started by sewing a bit of folded circular elastic on the back side of the bag, a few centimeters from the top: 

Then I covered the ugly ends of the elastic with a wooden flower button, and added a similar button on the other side of the bag: 

And so here's the second version of the bag, with the button closure: 

Happy Monday, and happy Spring!