Smaller Tote

Now that I've been using my big totes to carry stuff home from the grocery, I'm getting less plastic bags... which is good, but I was in the habit of using one of those plastic bags every day to carry my lunch, to work. I also used them to line the small trashcans in the bedroom and bathroom... now my supply is dwindling. So I decided to make a smaller tote the size of the plastic shopping bags:


I still get plastic bags at the store (I tell them to put my raw meat in plastic, I don't want it to leak on my big totes) plus things like bread, bagels, squishable stuff doesn't work in the big totes. Anyway, I looked online, and found lots of free patterns for a smaller tote. Here's the pattern I used for the shopping bag itself and here's the site I used for the folding pocket.

I made the solid green pocket to fit a 1 liter bottle of water, and I wanted the main tote big enough for a Healthy Choice or Lean Cuisine (what I take to lunch every day) plus an orange or a yogurt, a diet coke, a book or two, a sewing project... etc. :)


And here's the neat part - when empty, you can roll the bag up, and that same pocket that holds the liter bottle becomes a wallet type closure, so I can remember to put it in my purse and take it home.


Now that I've made a utility one for my first attempt, I think I'll get my pretty batiks out and make a fancy one. :) That flap that laps over the pocket to close it all up was a little long, it's not a tight roll like it could be. I also think I'll put a teeny snip of velcro on the bottom so the flap doesn't hang loose - like you can see it does on the doorknob pic.

Christmas Presents and Totebag Story

Well, I took my two new totebags to the grocery yesterday, and asked the checker if they still gave discounts if you use your own bags. "Yes, Ma'am!" she replied, counted my totes, and punched in my discount. Then she put them on the conveyor belt to send to the bagger... who promptly folded them neatly into thirds and put them in a plastic bag for me. :D

In his defense, he said they looked new and he thought I was getting them as a gift for someone... lol They worked very well, though, and were especially nice for carrying the cans of soup and other heavy things.

I've also been making some Christmas gifts, totally from stash. First, a little crayon apron - I have pencils in the pockets now, but the slots will fit 16 crayons when fully loaded:


I'd been wondering what I could make with this big flower print FQ since I got it as part of a FQ exchange - and the apron worked great, one FQ made both front and lining. Add the crayons and a coloring book, and it's a perfect gift for a six year old girl.

And some little notebook covers, one from a bluejean leg, one in heavy cotton. The denim one has a fringed skinny pocket next to the seam for a pen (I'll put a pretty gel pen there for giving) and the black with stars one has three ribbon loops to thread a pencil through to 'lock' the memo book closed:



Here they are open - they were very quick to do, just zig zagged the raw edges, and the cover slot is made from a 1½ inch strip of the same fabric, no lining. For the locking pen on the black one, sew one loop of ribbon to the front of the book, and two loops to the back of the book, so when it's closed, you go thru the back top loop, the front loop, then the bottom back loop.



And last, but not least, If you haven't been following Lindsay's adventure of actually MAKING a block every day from her block-a-day calendar, now's the time to watch as the end draws near. 365 days worth of completely different blocks... go offer some encouragement as she completes one year's worth:

SCHNOODLE'S Block-a-Day Epic!

Autumn Totebag

In the interest of using less plastic bags, I've decided to use some of my excessive fabric stash and make some totes. Here's my first one, with a Fall theme:


The bottom, straps and pockets are an orangey denim, very stiff. I wanted something about the size of a standard paper grocery sack, but a little wider, with straps that I could hang on my shoulder. I also wanted it sturdy enough to carry cans, bottles of V-8 or fruit juice, etc.

I probably could have gotten this thing done faster if I'd had a pattern to follow, but all the patterns I saw weren't the right size, didn't have the heavyweight fabric on the bottom, or didn't go up the sides as far as I wanted. I'd hoped to have the straps meet at the bottom of the bag, maybe even go into the center bottom seam, but I wanted them long enough to go over my shoulder more than I wanted them to go all the way across the bottom.

My machine didn't like sewing on the thickness of the denim, especially when I made the straps and stitched them down over the sides of the pockets. I finished off the inside too, zig-zagging the edges of the denim so they wouldn't fray, and using bias tape to encase my two side seams.

Toby is the resident Siamese inspector you see in the picture. He has an oversize bump of curiosity and has to follow me from room to room wherever I go. He tells me I should have made it even bigger, to carry the LARGE size bag of MeowMix. :D