I tested the new
Totes Ma Tote Bag that Janelle from Emmaline Bags designed. I made mine in patchwork. The instructions are very easy to follow, even though I made changes on mine. Without pockets on the outside, I thought this would be a perfect place to make patchwork, applique or embroidery. Don't worry there are plenty of inside pockets. Go
here to see over a dozen of these beautiful totes made by the testers.
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| The side of the bag has an accent strip. |
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| I used orange-brown-green fabrics to create a quilt-as-you-go string chevron patchwork for the front and back of the bag. |
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| The other side of the bag. I didn't have grommets so I made a strap and used pieces of Ultra Suede over the ends of the straps and then stitched a blanket stitch around them. I also didn't use buckles on my straps. One reason I didn't is that I didn't have any buckles and the other reason is as a knitter, I was afraid the prongs of those buckles would snag a knit sweater. Believe me I have caught many a sweater in swivel hooks and buckles before; sometimes I get so caught I cannot get the bag off, LOL!!! Those nicer swivel hooks that most bag makers use don't have those lever thingees sticking out, but I don't have those kind unfortunately and my knitwear gets caught. Something to think about when you are a knitter and a bag maker. |
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| There is a recessed zipper. |
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| Inside is a zippered pocket on one side. |
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| A large pocket on the other side of the bag with tab closure. I used a snap, not a magnetic snap here. |
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| Inside the large pocket is a section of slip pockets. I think I might have been the first tester to complete this bag and the way the directions were written is how I sewed my pocket here, however Janelle meant to have you sew the slip pocket over the the zipper pocket. Well that's the reason we testers test those bag, LOL!!! She corrected the instructions for this, but you could sew these pockets however suited you. I like how the slip pockets are inside the large pockets, so it didn't bother me at all that it wasn't meant to be this way. |
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