Practical sewing again

A short and not very exciting post this week, as I have been busy making a tote bag to replace the one which I bought in York in 2018 when I needed a way to carry home the three pattern catalogues I'd just acquired! It is now looking very worse for wear, but as it's had six years of near-daily use, I'm not complaining. However, this time I wanted to make rather than buy.

This week's project

The first great thing about making a bag is that you start with the dimensions of what you want to put in it, and work backwards. The second is that it can have as many pockets as you want. As with the lining I added to my recycled cable bag, I went with almost all-round pockets, and sewed them onto the lining before I made it up.

Attaching some of the pockets

There is also a pocket at the bottom, so that I can slip in something rigid for the base, and take it out when I want to wash the bag. I haven't cut this out yet, which is why the bottom of the bag sags a bit. All the materials were pre-washed, so I don't need to worry about shrinkage when I do wash it.

I put some of the webbing which I used for the handles around the top of the bag, to make it a little more rigid.

Inside

The outer furnishing fabric and the cotton lining both came from stash.

Another 2.6m used

And that is it. As I said at the start, not very exciting, but I get a great deal of satisfaction from being able to make the everyday things I need, and to my exact requirements.