Finley Tote by Sotak Handmade

Svetlana Sotak (Sotak Handmade)'s latest pattern released today and I was thrilled to pattern test for her again. I had bought some black vinyl at Quiltcon and thought it would be perfect for this bag. Since I have great confidence in Svetlana's patterns, I decided to splurge on the bag fabric itself. A quick trip to Hobby Lobby led me to this awesome faux suede that has the feel and appearance of embossed leather. Perfect!

The hardest thing about working with both of these fabrics was that I could not iron either of them. I tried pressing a small swatch of the sued with a coolish iron and a pressing cloth, but the finish came off onto the pressing cloth. So, there was lots of finger pressing and I took my time on the exterior of the bag.

As I expected, it went together perfectly! Even the exterior zipper pocket went in beautifully.

This bag has short, tote handles and an adjustable, detachable long strap so it can be worn cross body.

I found this quilters cotton that looked great as the lining. As always, the pattern included great interior pockets. A slip pocket on one side (which I decorated with one of my leather labels) and an interior zipper pocket on the other side.

Add to all of that a top closing zipper keeping all of your belongings nicely contained. This is a top notch tote bag that will get lots of use. Hop on over to Svetlana's blog to see more versions and purchase a pattern for yourself.