Who else made holiday presents this year? I have one particular family member who is impossible to buy for. So I made the Noodle Head Divided Tote. I didn't make this one, I'll need to study this one, you'll see why as you read on.
You can buy the pattern over at Noodle Head, and if you get good at making them, she gives you the right to sell them, if you credit her. If you do mass produce them, let me know how, it took me an entire day to make this. Ok, not an entire day, but I did think it would go together more quickly, and as we all know, the first one takes the longest.
I found these lovely hand embroidered Madeira Handkerchiefs. They were a pack of three, and vintage, and this one had some issues, so it was repurposed as decoration for this tote. I love the handwork, but really who uses hankies anymore, but it's so beautiful. The fabric for the tote was from the Fabrics-Store website, in the 7.1oz weight in natural and bleached colors.
I prewashed the fabrics before using them.
I had no issue with the pattern, it is very well drafted, my issues surfaced with the interfacings / foam.
The body of the bag used Pellon Flex Foam FF79F2, and the front pocket used Pellon Craft Fuse Style 808. I did not buy them online, but dashed out to my local Walmart, where poor floor people are sent to departments where they know nothing about the products. It took a while to find what I was looking for, and it all seemed a little pricey for what I received.... so be careful and know what the price of things are because nothing was tagged.
Both are fusible.
I hope the recipient doesn't look to closely, it took many attempts to get the fusible to bond. This makes me think these interlinings might have been old.
The foam is thick.
The top edge of the tote requires you to fold the foam over and top stitch. This left me with an uneven lumpy top edge, that looked like bad piping. The stitching sunk into the thick foam. This led me to tearing it out, and adding hand stitching with a Pearl cotton thread. This looked better to me. It will likely sit in the bathroom with toiletries, so maybe it will age better, than if it were used every day.
Now, to be fair, the pattern gives you the option to use the foam, or a fusible fleece, but I could not find the fleece. This is really my first time trying to make a tote, and I really don't like fusibles.
To make things better, the next go around, I will consider quilting the pieces, instead of using foam. An excellent mini quilting project. I might also add some elastic bands on the inside of the pockets to hold make up brushes, or hair accessories, or may even add a pocket in the pocket to keep smaller things put.
It's a nice pattern, great instructions.... there may be one more in me before the end of the year,
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