Tuesday, July 6, 2010

A Spring Tote, a season late.

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! We relaxed, went to a BBQ at a neighbor's house, and played some mini golf in this insane heat. It was fun and I wish we could have had one more day off. Although, the heat is so bad out, I was grateful for the freezing air conditioning at work.

Anyhoo, my sister graduated from college in May and I promised her a sturdy tote bag as her gift. She's heading to grad school this summer and needed something new to lug her books in.

Fast forward two months (yeah, I stink) and I finally finished it. THIS tutorial by Homemade by Jill was extremely clear and easy to follow. The only major difference is that I used batting and quilted the outside of the bag, instead if using interfacing.



The outside of the bag is pieced with the maroon and a paisley print. Both are scraps that were leftover from other projects (yay scrap busting!). The handle is belting that I found at a local craft store. It's cheap and very sturdy.

The top is trimmed with piping that was leftover from a pillow I made a few months ago. There was just enough by about an inch to make it around. I love piping. It makes the finished product so much nicer.



I added inside pockets for her school ID and metrocard. The pleated pocket on the right was made using THIS tutorial from Made by Rae.



My sister is lucky I love her so much, otherwise I would have kept this bag for myself! ;)

You probably noticed the look of the blog changed a bit. I was going to work on it more this past weekend, but life took over and it didn't get done. I want to mess with the tab pages, banner, and hope to get my freebie patterns up as PDF files, so it's easier for people to save and print them. Just be patient with me. I'm slow as molasses.

11 comments:

melicity said...

That is a beautiful bag! Your sister is very fortunate. :) BTW--I love the new look of your blog.

LOL!!! I just noticed that the word verification word for me is "rebagg." How ironic! ;)

Kristina P. said...

I love that tote. I am a big fan of paisley.

Andrea Moberly said...

LOVE it! Rock on, girl :)

Snap said...

love the tote! i want one!!! stash busting is great!

Dannee Wood said...

Love the bag and the new layout of the blog!!! Happy Summer

Laura said...

Oh wow, is that tote ever cute! I'm so impressed with how good your sewing skills have become. Now I want a sewing machine really, really badly!

The new blog layout looks great, by the way!

Bezzie said...

Lucky sister!

I like the piping as well. Reminds me of applied i-cord on sweaters!

Dragonflymom said...

Wow that is one very pretty tote!! I wish I could sew that good.

Jenny said...

Beautiful job on the tote! I like the bottom where you stitched across it to make it sturdier. I think it really adds to it!

Caroline said...

Wow, what a tote! You are really honing your sewing skills. I love the decorative stitch on the burgandy fabric.

Anonymous said...

Excellent work!!! You are talented. I noticed that you said you are a yarn-o-holic, so I thought I'd mention I am as well.