Rooty "TUTE" Tuesday - Tote Bag Tank

I saw these adorable little tote bags in the Dollar Spot at one of my favorite stores (yeah, you know the one) and although I don't need any more bags, I just couldn't pass them up! There has got to be something I could make with these, right? Oh, and did I mention that they were 75% off...that's right, only TWENTY FIVE CENTS!! So, I bought these two cute little bags.
And this is what I decided to make with the first one.
The other is still a cute little tote bag...for now.

Here's what I did:

1.) Unpick handles and take them off. This will mess up some of the stitching, but we'll fix that later.
2.) Cut off bottom of bag, just barely above stitching. My bag had rounded corners, so I also had to trim up the curves a bit too.
3.) Serge or hem bottom edge.
4.) Make a ruffle for top front. I cut out a strip of fabric double the length of the width of the bag and about 3" wide. Iron strip in half length-wise. Serge raw edges together. Sew at bottom edge to gather (set stitch length to longest possible, then set tension to really low or really high...I've done both ways).
5.) Stitch ruffle on top front of bag/tank. I turned the ruffle down at the beginning and end to curve it down and end. Does that make any sense? Just so the edge is finished, i just turned it downward. My bag had a hem at the top where the handles were sewn on. There was stitching at the very top and also about 1" from the top. I sewed over both of these stitched lines to reinforce sewing on the ruffle and also to fix the stitching that I messed up when I unpicked the handles.
6.) Find the middle of the back. Sew on 4" of elastic to the middle of the top of the back. Stretch the elastic as it is sewn on so it gathers afterwards.
7.) Make straps. My straps are (2) 12" x 2 1/2" strips of fabric. Sew each strip right sides together, flip right side out, iron, top stitch along both sides. You can also use some cute 1" ribbon for the straps.
8.) Sew straps on. Turn raw edge of strap under and sew one end to back of tank, just next to the elastic. Sew other end to front of tank. Do this to both straps. The front straps will be approximately 4-5" apart, they should line up with the straps in the back.

Embellish the tank more if you want...a cute fabric flower is always fun!!! And now you're done! That was a cheap and easy way to liven up my little girls' wardrobe!