The Ship Shape Tote

Yep, another bag! (And I'm working on a third one right now too, so I hope you like totes.) Last month at the Sewing Summit I was super lucky to have the chance to take Alexia Abegg of Green Bee Design's class. Alexia is not only talented but also a very, very nice person and I was thrilled to be able to spend a couple hours with her, working on her Ship Shape Tote pattern.

We all cut our fabrics at home and I decided to use 12 different prints, rather than 2 like in the example. Each side of my tote has the same set of fabrics, but in a different order. The fabric is a mix of Anna Maria Horner's fabrics (Field Study, Good Folks, Innocent Crush), Denyse Schmidt's Chicopee, Bari J's Splendor 1920, Art Gallery Fabrics Indie and Cloud9's Nature Walk. For the lining I chose Alexander Henry's Heath in chocolate and added a bit of Cloud9's Cut Out and Keep because I didn't have enough of the crosshatch. The straps are a solid chocolate brown.

This was the first time I've sewn with such heavy weight interfacing. I really love the sturdy shape it gives the bag. (Mine's a little wrinkled right now from being shoved under an airline seat.)

The shape of the tote is great too. The slight angled look is really cool and the flat bottom really lets you put a lot in the bag. I really pushed it to it's limits when I loaded it up as my carry on on the way home from Salt Lake City.

I'm already thinking this will be a great pool bag for the summer. I think it will fit all our beach towels, sunscreen, pool toys and snacks and it won't tip over and let everything spill out.

For my USA friends, I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving tomorrow! I have so much to be thankful for and I can't wait to celebrate with family. xox