Gift bag tutorial

 I had the honor of creating a tutorial to post on my friend, Marie Bostwick's blog. Do you know Marie? In addition to being a great friend and kind human being she is a wonderful author. I found her years ago when she was writing her Cobbled Court Quilt series, all about, you guessed it, quilters! Since then she has written many wonderful books. I love that they focus on women and friendships.

Anyways, Marie asked if I would write a holiday tutorial for her blog. I created a pattern for these fun giftbags....

You can find the tutorial here.... and while you are there check out some of Marie's other blog posts. She often includes fabulous recipes!

Let me know if you make any gift bags for the holidays. I'd love to see them!

Firefly Tote

In a total change of pace, I made a bag! I love making bags and have neglected it lately. On a recent quilt shop hop in San Antonio with a friend, I saw the pattern for Noodlehead's Firefly Tote and decided I needed to make one pronto! This is the project size. I plan to make the tote size soon.

I love the accent fabric so much! It's Forage by Anna Graham, a Robert Kaufman woven fabric. Also, until I typed that this very minute, it didn't occur to me that the pattern and the fabric were both designed by Anna! Duh! The navy is a Dimples print from Andover.

It was fun to add one of my little leather labels. This pattern was a pretty quick sew and I really love the finished bag.

I'll be making more of these for sure.
 

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.

Brooklyn Tote Pack

I'm so excited! Svetlana Sotak, at Sotak Handmade introduced her newest pattern today, the Brooklyn Tote Pack.  I was lucky to be chosen to pattern test this bag for her before I left for Quiltcon and I'm so happy with the outcome.

First I must tell you, when I saw the pattern, I decided I needed a plain denim bag and this was the perfect choice for it. If you've followed me for very long you know that "plain" is not usually in my vocabulary. I decided to do it anyways and the result was lovely...

Lovely but BORING! LOL Not Svetlana's fault at all. The pattern itself was perfect. As always, her instructions are clear and the details are awesome. Zipper pockets both outside and inside, tote handles (she used leather, I chose webbing for mine) and removable, adjustable backpack straps as well. 

I did line mine with this adorable cotton & steel lamb print that I had in my stash, which made the inside fun & cheerful.

I know I'll get lots of use out of it. But first I had to fancy it up a bit. So I went a little crazy with embroidery (no pattern, I just kept stitching until I was "done").

And now I think it's perfect! I really love this bag.... Thanks Svetlana for letting me try it out for you!

Japanese knock off tote bag

My friend Stephanie made an amazing Japanese knock off tote bag to use at Quiltcon.  I really loved it! She shared that it is a free tutorial from Sew Can She & I knew I would put it toward the top of my list of things to make after I got home. Because I clearly need more tote bags.

I decided to make my bag entirely of Cotton & Steel fabrics. Some I had in my stash, some I had just picked up at Quiltcon.

 I love that the bag is reversible! The patchwork "lining is really fun.

I also love the squirrel print. I got it in New York City last fall & had been saving it for just the right project.

I added one of my leather tags to the pocket binding.

This is a great tutorial! The only thing I changed was the handles. I made them longer and narrower than the ones suggested. Can't wait to put this to use!

all the tote bags

If you've been to Quiltcon before, you already know that you can come home with a huge stack of free tote bags! I had no idea.... live and learn! A few of the ones I ended up with are really great quality. Like the free bag we got with registration, designed by Violet Craft!

As much as I love it, I wish it had interior pockets. I had a brainstorm! Why not make some to insert. So I set to work.....

I made this pocket insert, with three slip pockets (perfect for my phone, etc) and a zipper pocket for cash. I stitched it directly to the top of my bag. Awesome!

I also got one of Cotton & Steel's amazing bags, so I decided to set to work making it even more amazing....

First I added C&S fabric to the straps making them a little fancier!

My buddy (and Quiltcon roomie) Diann had the great idea to add hand stitching.... I added three rows of running stitch around the top of the bag in colors that matched the printing on the front. Oh, and I used 1/4" tiger tape to make it all nice and even. If you don't know about tiger tape, you need to! It's magical. You can get it here.

Again with the pockets..... this time I used all C&S fabrics and I made the slip pockets a bit deeper...

I love the result! Thank you Cotton & Steel for the awesome bag!