Making totes, seems fun AND functional. My thought was to make a cute tote for:
A) filling with goodies for a gift
B) using as my boat tote for towels, snacks, etc.
This tote was inspired by the bucket tote they have at Modern Textiles. However, me being me, I wanted to tweek it slightly. Instead of a round tote, I wanted a rectangle one. (I thank google for the video tutorial on that one!) I also wanted a very sturdy tote with lots of batting and foam in the middle. The foam was Kerry’s idea. “Foam makes bags very sturdy”, she says. What she did not say, was it also makes them very hard to sew! Layers of batting, layers of foam, and canvas fabric makes for a ton of bulk.
Here is what happened…
A) I broke 3 sewing machine needles.
B) I bent almost every pin I owned.
C) The lining I tried looked like total and complete crap.
Why do I go off script??!! I can not help myself. I always think “looks easy enough”. Guess what? It never actually is.
When you have a problem you seek solutions, and that is exactly what I did.
Darren told me to hand crank through the really thick parts in order to solve my broken needle problem. “I thought everyone knew how to do that.” he says to me. Nope, I didn’t, but thank you. I also added a walking foot. AHHHHHH….Where have you been all my life, walking foot? I love you.
Next, I solved my bent pin problem by using clips. Thanks to the advice of Connie at Modern Textiles.
Lastly, I tried a different look for the lining. Tote is complete. NOW, I need to work on actually stitching straight. NOT today, but in the future.
Cheers!
Andrea
