Print Shop Tote

I mentioned in my very first blog post that the book that first intrigued me about sewing was Sew Gifts!. The first project in that book was a chevrons tote bag that I really wanted to make, but I couldn't understand the instructions. I'm one of those people who has problems with my spatial abilities, and in sewing-lance, it means I have trouble understanding written instructions for 3-dimensional objects like bags.

So I took a few video courses on bag making, hoping to eventually take that knowledge to paper patterns. I didn't think I was ever going to get there, though. But a few weeks ago, I reread the instructions for this tote (something I did quite a few times in the past 3 years ) and this time, it finally made sense!

So at long last, here is the finished tote. I used some yardage I had in my stash, combined with a few adorable fat quarters from the Print Shop collection by Alexia Abegg for Cotton and Steel.

Being a quilter, the chevron panels naturally were the most fun to put together. For me, the most challenging aspect of this bag came from the final assembly, and that's mostly because of the fabric I used. The essex linen, although beautiful, was very challenging to sew because it was so much thicker, and this bag also has several layers of batting and interfacing. I didn't have any denim needles so I used a topstitch needle, but still came away with lots of skipped stitches over the thickest part of the seams.

Despite the problems, I'm still happy with this tote. Mostly, I'm proud of the fact that I finally deciphered a paper pattern, and that's quite a milestone for me. As for the quality of this tote ... well, I don't know how long it will hold up, but when it falls apart, I'll just make another one!

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