red and grey daisy tote

Do you ever procrastinate on something for absolutely no reason at all?  Do you ever window-shop for things and then refuse to buy, because "I will make that for myself"....but then you never make it? Yeah, all of that pretty much sums up what I do.  My children have been the only ones at school with no mittens in the winter because "My mommy hasn't made them for me yet".  Lame.  And of course, I simply REFUSE to buy them.  I'm a case.  Whatevs.

About a year ago (or maybe longer?) I bought two colorways of some sturdy fabric at Ikea, planning on turning it into a small shoulder bag, and then reversing the color scheme and making a tote.  Well I made the bag, but then....kind of just never got around to the tote.  This week, it finally hit me that, while our family is fully past the Diaper Bag Stage, I still do end up always packing up a re-usable shopping bag to tote around lunchboxes, snacks, library books, water bottles, etc.  So I did a quick search through my crafty board on Pinterest, and used my Day Without Children yesterday to make this satisfyingly sturdy, perfectly-sized tote.


For Pleat's Sake Tote

This morning when Billy and I went out to run our errands, I was delighted to find that everything we needed easily fit in my brand new bag, and I may or may not have walked around feeling extra smug about this fact.



A few notes:  The pattern is For Pleat's Sake Tote, tutorial/pattern/DIY by U*Handbag.  I used a thick, sturdy twill for the outer shell, and a pure linen for the inner lining.  I do not think that linen should generally be used as a liner because of wrinkles and fraying, but the color was perfect, and I wasn't about to go out shopping when I have a giant fabric stash just sitting in my studio.  I reinforced all of the pieces (inner and outer) with medium-weight iron-on interfacing, which adds greatly to the durability factor overall, and lessens the wrinkling of the linen.  I did not use fusible fleece to reinforce the outer shell, although that may have given it a pleasantly plumper shape.  Maybe next time.  To finish the edges, I top-stitched everything all the way around for a more sturdy, professional feel.  The bow detail is fixed to an alligator clip so that I can wear it as a hairbow when I don't feel like adorning my bag with it.





On either side of the liner, I added patch-pockets to help me organize, and also installed a magnetic snap to keep the bag closed when I am not over-stuffing it (i.e. almost never).




I also sewed in a key-clip, because I seriously hate digging around for my keys (even in a small purse).



Overall, I'm pretty in love with this bag.  Now I'm rummaging around in my stash to make one of these in sensible black.  Hmmm, I'd better start shopping for purse handles...