Gift to Make: A Draw-able Tote for Your Small Person

My sister said that my 4 1/2 year-old nephew is getting a little crafty lately and to act accordingly when gift giving.  It probably goes without saying that this news warmed me to the very depths of my soul.  He is the oldest of three and I wanted to give him a "big boy" craft to do during his siblings nap time.  But it had to be something he could do independently so that my sister could catch a little break to. 

I decided to put together a Draw-Your-Own Tote and T-shirt kit using some great textile markers and pastels I picked up at Collage, a handmade tote bag, and a blank T-shirt. 

For the Tote bag you'll need light coloured cotton canvas and a liner print (you could do without the liner, and just finish your interior seams).  We have a little of the Oasis canvas left and we also carry larger widths of organic canvas from Kaufman, which is what I used.  I slapped my hand away from the "On the Road" line (also from Kaufman) and used an older coordinating print from my piles.  There's no reason you shouldn't get some of the newer Alexander Henry prints or a bit of Momo.  The bag measures about 11" by 14", so a half yard of each fabric will give you plenty.  The finished dimensions on the straps are 2" by 24".  I'm going to refer you to two fantastic tote tutorials (among the hundreds):  Tote Bags 101 and Simple Totebag.  Once you've got the basics down, you can modify these patterns to suit your needs! 

Tee Juice makes great markers for textiles, but I also included some Pentel Fabric Fun Pastels that will be easy for my nephew to get a handle on.  Again, both of those items came from just up at the street.  I threw in a T-shirt for him and a blank onesie for his little brother-- just in case he's feeling generous.  I started messing around with the Fine Line Tee Juice marker in black this afternoon and half considered throwing in some blank pillowcases and napkins, too.  Grandparents gifts, anyone?  Oh, I think so.