Large Khaki Hobo Bag

I really like the small one I made, but it's purse-sized and let's face it: I have an 11 m/o. I carry around diapers, wipes, extra clothes, toys, and snacks, and all the baby's stuff, too! :D But seriously, I needed more room, so I made a large one. And it is LARGE! (Look! It's bigger than the baby!! lol)

I used a heavy khaki material for the outside and a very bright flowery watercolor-ish print for the lining. I put two khaki pockets on the inside, and rather than finish all the edges, I used an overcasting stitch close to the edge so that it'll fray just a bit, which I thought would give it a summery, hobo-ish look (the tops of the pockets are the selvage and won't fray).

The outside is pretty plain, so I dressed it up a little with a dangling bead string. I had a few big glass beads of the same color scheme, and I threaded them on a hemp line and tied it to the handle. Then I strung some tiny pink beads and wrapped them around the hemp for a little more color. I still think it's pretty plain, and I'm considering cutting out a flower from the leftover lining fabric and stitching it to the outside corner, like a patch. I think that would finish it nicely.

I have not put a clasp on it yet. It's been perfectly functional without one and the mouth of the bag is so big that if it turned over, a zipper would be the only thing that would keep everything from falling out, and I don't plan to install a zipper. I might put a tie of some sort on it, but I might just leave it as it is.

All the material for this bag was given to me free of charge, as were the beads and hemp cord. It took a little less than a yard of fabric to make, combined. It was free for me to make b/c I used what I had, but if I had to buy it all, I wouldn't have spent more than $3-4 on all the materials, and that's a high estimate, for how I shop.