It's in the Bag!

Happy Monday Everyone-

Well! I finished my bag yesterday and I'm so glad. I'm very happy with the way it turned out. By using neutrals I'm sure to get a lot of use out of it and not tire of it anytime soon. I thought it would make a good project back to keep by the couch, or to take books to the library, or stuff to the post office. A good sturdy tote.



nice inside pockets.Pauline came over last Thursday to work on our tote bags. I think we did more talking and ripping out than actual progress. She recently returned from a quilt retreat where they had a grab bag. These were her prizes - nice!
What cute sewing minder

I love the beaded comb and wobble (or whatever it is).


For lunch I made Janet's rustic pie recipe. I printed the recipe from her blog months ago and finally gave them a try. Delicious. I used ham instead of bacon and chives instead of onions. I think you can make many delicious combinations with the basic recipe - thanks Janet!


Okay, I took the process challenge, so here was the sewing process of the bag once the strata was completed. For those not interested, it's cool, I get it. See you next time.

After the strata is cut into the 3 pieces you attach a binding to the four corners.

The inside pockets are sewn down during the process.
the seams are covered when its turned to the inside and stitched down.
Here is am attaching the binding. It is so awkward to get every flap out of the way and they were quite stiff.


This is how the sides come up to form a corner of the bag. I think I was watching angels and demons at this point, but it looks like a classic B&W movie in the background.


I used a curved needle (awkward!). It worked well in grabbing some of the clothesline and making it a strong ladder stitch. Boy, were my fingers sore, it was impossible to use a thimble, did I mention awkward?

here is a corner done from the inside.

attaching the top binding, while also attaching the 2 handles.

Sewing down the inside seam. I little hard to see while sewing.


As a final touch, I sewed a seam across the bottom of the handles so they don't always flop down the outside of the bag. You can see the difference here.


And that, as they say, is that.