Creative Budget June project

This month I teamed up once again with Abakhan to see what crafty goodness I could come up with using a budget of only £15.

I had a very definite idea of what I wanted to do this month - it's summer right? And what do we do in summer? We go to the beach!  (well, we would, if it would just stop raining long enough) I wanted to make a nice lightweight beach bag and a snuggly blanket to sit on, or when the sea air gets a bit nippy, wrap up in. I wanted the blanket to be able to cope with a bit of seaspray/damp sand/grass and be washable, and I wanted it to fold up nice and neat and stow away in the bag with other things.

 Originally I was going to do a tutorial for the blanket, but I have never made anything like this before and, quite frankly, it didn't turn out quite how I wanted it to! Put it this way, if I was going to make another one I would do it very differently! But that is the brilliant thing about taking part in a challenge like this - I tried something new, it didn't quite work this time. Next time it will be fab! (And if it is, I may still do a beach blanket tutorial yet. . .)

So what did I get for my £15?

A whole bundle of beautiful blues - 1 metre of blue large square gingham, 2 metres of hardwearing but incredibly lightweight and showerproof ripstop fabric in aqua, 1 metre of soft sky blue fleece, 8 metres blue bias binding, a metre of cute blue pom-pom trim and some thread.


And here is what I made with it . . .

As you can see the blanket was as snuggly as I had hoped it would be and the addition of ties sewn into the binding mean it can be rolled up and secured. You can then use the ties as a carry handle (or just throw it in the bag! )
The bag was super easy to make and I am really pleased with it - I have made it with extra long handles so it can be slung over your shoulder - an essential part of what makes a good bag when you have young kids in my view. It is large enough to carry plenty of beach essentials - including the snuggly blanket - but light enough to fold up small and put in my handbag. In fact, in lieu of any beachy adventures this summer, it will handily double up as a bright, summery shopper!

As I said, I had planned this month's Creative Budget post to include a tutorial, so a tutorial you will get. If you fancy having a go at making your own lovely Beach Bag, stay tuned, the tutorial will follow shortly . . .

Disclosure - Abakhan gave me £15 of credit to spend on items of my choice from their website. No other payment has been recieved for this post. All items  are made to my own designs and patterns and I am happy for you to take inspiration from them to make your own for personal use or to give as gifts but not to sell for profit. Thank you x