Summer Breeze Charm Tote
/After sewing my little heart out for the girls last week, I was determined to finally make something for myself! Last year, I won a giveaway at Quilting, Losing, and Tea (Thanks, Karen!). I thought that the Summer Breeze II charm squares would make a lovely tote bag and have been wanting to make one for myself ever since. Well, I needed some coordinating fabric for the handles and tossed around some different ideas for how I wanted to make it. My friend, Anita, helped me out a bit with all of that and I ended up with a mish-mash of things to get this:
I saw a bag that she made with side ties and LOVED it! It really helps pull the bag together, but allows for more room if you need it (and let's face it, with all of these kids, I will probably need it!) I think it will be a great size to take along to soccer and softball games this Spring (in our school colors of blue and gold! Go Eagles!!)
Lots of pockets for necessary things (I even did my first zipper pocket! WOOHOO!) and lots of room for snacks and things to entertain the kids/me. Now, I want to make a coordinating clutch or pouch to hold my embroidery projects- they are great to work on while waiting for practices and such. (Sadly, I am using a plastic sandwich bag right now.)
The handles are super sturdy- four layers of fabric and fusible fleece! My poor sewing machine!
I tried to FMQ the bag, but I can't lower the feed dogs on my machine and even if I cover them with the darning plate, I don't have the correct presser foot to make the tension work. So, I just fought against the feed dogs. It isn't pretty and it was quite a workout, but it gives the ripply texture I wanted.
If it hadn't been for SewLux's Charm Madness Blog Hop, I probably would not have pushed myself to get it done so quickly. So... Thank you!
