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Purse Palooza :: Pattern Review : The Long Thread Pleated Tote

 This post is part of Purse Palooza 2013.
For full schedule of guest post pattern reviews and prizes, click here!
 
Emily of Mommy’s Nap Time is an awesome quilter, and she is unique in the fact that she prefers to work on the small scale. This is my favorite project that Emily has made.

Hello! I’m Emily from Mommy’s Nap Time, and I’m so excited to be a part of the Purse Palooza blog hop! While I’m a quilter at heart, I love making bags and pouches. Today I’m reviewing the Pleated Tote by Ellen  Luckett Baker / The Long Thread. This tote is perfect for carrying library books.

What fabrics / supplies were needed to make the bag? The instructions call for 1 yd quilting cotton for the outside and handles, and 1/2 yd for the lining. Fusible fleece is suggested as a stabilizer – but I used duck canvas as a sew-in interfacing instead.
I really loved the cutting illustrations, particularly because I chose to use different fabrics for each area – the cutting illustrations helped me to keep track of which pieces I’d already cut (I’m pretty visual). The instructions were fairly basic, yet perfect for anyone who has any experience sewing a bag. I would think that a beginner would have no problem figuring out the steps, though a few extra pictures / diagrams would be helpful. I didn’t worry because it’s a free pattern, and for being free it’s pretty fantastically written!
I made a few modifications to the pattern. First of all, I used duck canvas inside instead of Fusible Fleece, and I used a lightweight canvas for both the outer and lining. I purposely didn’t want a floppy bag, but perhaps it was overkill. Next time I’ll use quilting cottons with the duck canvas, or I’d follow the instructions and use quilting weight cotton with fusible fleece. I must admit I love the weight the finished bag has to it. The duck and canvas give it a great dimension.
I also used different fabrics for mine. The pattern calls for 1 yd outer fabric, I only had half yards cuts, so I used the outer fabric for just the outside of the top band, and made the lining of the inside top band, and straps using a separate fabric. The cutting illustrations make it easy to mix and match fabrics (to keep track of which fabric went where, I wrote down the fabric names inside the cutting illustrations).
Overall I really enjoyed this pattern and can’t wait to make another. As usual my family members all lined up to call dibs on the next tote bag, so it was a huge hit!

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4 thoughts on “Purse Palooza :: Pattern Review : The Long Thread Pleated Tote

  1. Love your bag!! The fabrics are great, and those pleats!! So perfect!

  2. Catherine says:

    Fantastic fabric choices & impeccably made. Love it!

  3. Tyra Flores says:

    Hey Sara, I’ve seen your creativity in your other posts and I’m glad that I’ve reached on your post again. The creative design and color combination you’ve selected is looking really good. I’m also working on DIY project and will surely share the product with you once it is done. Reading through your post is a nice feeling, you feel motivated to do such things. I was very much inspired with your post, that if you can make such beautiful handbag designs why I should not start trying like this. Thanks for sharing the post.

  4. Tote handbags are in style and they are used by many women’s today. They are used as one of the stylish accessories by women today. I liked the colour combination of this bag. I have also purchased a stylish red and blue Orla Kiely Handbags from kilkenny. It is a tote bag and has an elegant look. I also used to carry my small purse in this bag. For some people it is not an easy task to stitch bags by themselves and thus they can buy bags at affordable price from online stores.

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