totes, totes, and more totes!

My second sewing project: tote-bags. Everyone loves tote-bags, so this seemed like a great project. I enlisted the help of my friend S. After some troubleshooting, and perhaps more vodka than was prudent, we made some beautiful bags!

How did we do it? Well, we didn't have a pattern - just directions. You will notice this happens a lot of you are scouring the internet or Pinterest for sewing ideas.  To make our own pattern, we used brown paper bags. We just cut them to size, and viola! instant pattern.  I've since also used large heavy (but not quite card-stock) paper, and that works even better because there are no pesky creases.

Here's what I noticed about totes: they are a perfect beginner project.  I love making them, but anyone who says a beginner can whip them up in an hour is wearing crazy pants. Maybe I'm just slow, but because I like all my edges to be finished and I wasn't lining the bags, it meant I had a lot to fold, iron, fold again and sew. Since my material is rather sturdy, I haven't wanted to line the bags, although this may be a better (adding sturdiness and saving time) option for the future. I'll have to play with it.

Here are a couple of the totes I've made since getting the hang of it: