Here are the fabrics, lovely, aren't they? I am following the tote bag tutorial from the Hooked on Needles Blog by Mary Grace McNamara, and am already running into trouble. Mary Grace used duck fabric, which is pretty stiff. I'm using quilt fabric, which is not. To make my quilt fabrics stiffer, I starch them fairly heavily, which also helps to shrink them. I did not prewash the fabrics as the water in the starch will give me any shrinkage to be had, and I put a "Dry Clean Only" label inside. I find that once a tote bag is washed, it's never the same as when newly made. But to increase the stiffnes, I also want to use somewhat heavy interfacing with all of the fabric pieces, which means I have to line the pockets. This means more fabric. I didn't see any yardage requirements, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. I bought one yard of each fabric, and quickly ran out. Another issue is that I want to put in a zippered pouch on the inside of the bag, just as you would see on a purse. Which means more fabric. What I really need is more of the stork fabric, so I'll have to wait until Friday to buy it. ( I can't make it to the shop before closing) Oh, and I ran out of interfacing. And I need two zippers, one for the pouch in the lining and one for the zipper extension of the bag itself. After all, this is one of the major reasons I chose this pattern! I really like being able to zip the bag closed, and I know Mom will, too. So, off to Joann's and the quilt store to purchase more supplies, then I will continue sewing and writing.
Lovely fabric Cynthia! So you've figured out that this bag uses a lot of fabric! It's quite a large bag once finished, and the more details you put into it, the more fabric you need! Also when you get the zipper for the extension, you might check out the heavier duty separating zippers. I like those better than the dress zippers because they are easier to zip and the pulls are bigger which makes them easier to handle. Can't wait to see your finished bag!
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