Tote Bags and Make Up Bags

For a while now I have been trying to find cute tote bags and matching make up bags to give my girls as gifts. Well, I haven't really found quite what I am looking for at a price that I feel is decent. Well yesterday, Laura over at Saying I Do had her Mom do a guest post about the tote bags that she made for Laura's bridal party. Her Mom did a fantastic job on these bags and was even able to make them matching make up bags. Her post really got me thinking about making these bags myself.

After scouring the internet for about an hour, I have come up with a couple of options. 1) I can buy a pattern from JoAnn Fabrics and attempt to try and make them off of the pattern for each of my girls, or 2) I can use this tutorial that I found over at Skip to my Lou that takes you through making a tote bag step by step and they even have a tutorial on how to do a zippered makeup bag. Now my only concern is that I have only been using a sewing machine for a little over a year now. I am not by any means a super sewer. I am still a beginner and I have never done anything using a pattern, so I am worried that I would not understand what the pattern is asking you to do and that I would just be in over my head. The tutorial seemed pretty easy and I definitely understood what they were asking me to do, but there isn't as much room for customization with the simple tutorial as there would be with the pattern.

Via the JoAnn Fabrics Website

So, I am asking your advice as to what I should do. Should I go ahead and buy the pattern and see if I can understand what it is saying? Or should I follow the easy tutorial that I found online? Tell me what you are thinking in the comments below! Hope everyone is having a great Thursday!