Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Trail Tote

It.Is.Finished! "It" is the Trail Tote from the pattern by Anna Graham of Noodlehead. It wasn't a difficult pattern to sew. It's just that... well, if you've been following my blog long, you know that... I'm slow. Especially in the summertime. So without making you wait any longer, here it is!


It's a large tote bag with an adjustable crossbody strap, piping trim on the sides, and has no gusset but instead darts in front and back that give it more room. It's a fun bag!


The fabric is from Jess's new Typography line for Cloud9 Fabrics. The outside is the teal "Wood Type", and the inside is teal "Lorem Ipsum", with a solid orange (of course!) for the strap and piping.

It fastens with a magnetic snap, and there is a large slip pocket inside besides the zippered pocket on the outside.


The pattern is free(!) and it can be found here. As it says on the cover, the pattern level is Experienced Intermediate... "I know the ropes and would like to test my skills!" I would say that's pretty accurate. You would do best with some bag-making know-how already in your pocket.

At photo-taking time, there was no one to hold the bag or take pics of me doing so, so I'll just show you the pics from the pattern cover for size reference. There are two sizes in the pattern, so here they both are, modeled by Anna herself. The one I made is the larger of the two.


Anna also has more fun photos and even links for a couple other free patterns in her blog post here.

11 comments:

Auntie Kris said...

Great bag! I've been eying this pattern, and love her clean lined designs. Piping scares me, though. I have SO many projects lined up.. and keep collecting patterns for bags that I never find time to make. Thanks sharing your projects!

Jessica Jones said...

So great. Love that piping! Can't wait to see this creation in person.

Grandma G said...

Thanks, ladies. :) Kris, you could do this piping! The thought of doing piping scares people, but it's really so easy, especially on straight edges or gentle curves like these. You'd be surprised! :) I hear ya on the project line-up.... me, too! And I have something totally different in the queue that I'm anxious to start - it could be awesome... or a flop. LOL

Jessica Jones said...

Kris, don't be scared of piping. I was too, but I once made some flawless stuff for a chair I upholstered. It looks hard but it's a piece of cake with a piping sewing foot. I shocked myself at how awesome it turned out, and I'm a novice sewer.

Grandma G said...

But you don't 'have to' have a piping foot. I don't have one, and get along fine just using a zipper foot. :)

Jenny said...

Beautiful bag! I still love that teal. The orange really pops against it, but I think some vibrant magenta would be a gorgeous combo as well. I've never done piping, but you and Jessica make it sounds so easy, I might have to try it one of these days.

Jenny

Grandma G said...

Thank you, Jenny! I agree about the magenta. Definitely try piping! It just adds so much... so worth the bit of extra effort!

Geneviève said...

I agree with everyone, piping really adds a lot of punch. I think it makes the overall project look more "professional".

I only tried some "empty" piping with pleather for a straight line on a bag, but it was surprisingly easy. Using wonder clips was really helpful too.

Also, really nice work Grandma G (as always I must say!) :)

Grandma G said...

Thank you, my friend. :)

Anna said...

really so awesome! I love looking at it (or staring with heart eyes). beautiful!

Grandma G said...

Thanks, Anna! Especially for the free pattern! :)