Bags

Purse Palooza – Pattern Review – Two Pretty Poppets Goin’ Uptown Tote

IMG_1272This post is part of Purse Palooza 2015. For full details and contest rules, check here.
Today’s post is from Melisa of Melisa Jane Handmade.

Purse Palooza 2015 at Sew Sweetness

Hi! My name is Melisa and I run a little online business called Melisa Jane. You can find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/melisajanehandmade or on instagram @melisajanehandmade.

I was so excited to be chosen by Sara to write a review of one of my current favourite PDF bag patterns, the Goin’ Uptown Tote from two pretty poppets( www.twoprettypoppets.com ) . I have been lucky enough to be a pattern tester for a number of Lisa’s most recent releases, but the Goin’ Uptown tote has definitely been a favourite so far!

11824974_717984594991309_911718189123354151_n

IMG_0310editlogo.jpg

This tote is such a great size. At 15”w x 11” h x 4” d it’s large enough to fit plenty of your daily essentials in with room to spare, but not so big that you feel like you are lugging around a suitcase for a handbag!

Materials Required:

  • Fabric (i.e. quilting cotton) as follows: Outer and handles – 3/4yd (0.75m), Lining – 1/2yd (0.5m), Piping – 1/2yd (0.5m)
  • Medium-heavy weight fusible interfacing (i.e. Pellon 808, Formfuse 1600) – 3/4yd (0.75m) based on a 40” (101cm) width
  • Fusible fleece (i.e. PellonThermolam 971F, Vilene H640) – 1/2yd (0.5m)
  • Firm fusible stabilizer (i.e. Pellon’sPeltex #71F, Legacy #71F) – 17¾” x 4” (45cm x 10cm)
  • Rectangular rings x4 – 1” (2.5cm) size
  • Cotton cording – 5/32” (4.5mm) size/size 2, 3yds (3m) long (or 3yds/3m of premade piping)
  • Coordinating dress/all purpose zippers – 1 – 7” (18cm), 2 – 6” (15cm)
  • Coordinating #5 nylon open end zipper – 1 – 16” (40cm)
  • Fabric glue/wash away fabric tape (optional but helps)
  • Coordinating thread, scissors and general sewing supplies including a heavy duty needle (Universal size 12 or 14).

The Pattern

IMG_1255

The Goin’ Uptown tote features a narrow external zip pocket on both front and back that I found perfect to use a feature fabric for. The pocket is a great size to fit your phone in, but is quite narrow so if you have larger hands you may need to make the pocket shorter so you don’t lose things in the bottom!

IMG_1269

It also has a recessed zip gusset, inner zip pocket and piping around the top and edges to give your bag a real pop.

IMG_1262

The pattern uses over 100 colour photos and 24 detailed pages to really hold your hand through some of the trickier methods. There are step by step instructions on perfecting your zip installation as well as getting the perfect piping. The pattern is full of great details that will help not only with this pattern but others with similar methods!

IMG_1271

Changes I made

Since I was a pattern tester for this bag a lot of the suggestions I made /changes were already incorporated into the design pre release. There are a couple of things however that I did differently!

  • I used soft and stable rather than an interfacing/fusible fleece combination. I made my first bag using fleece but since then have used Soft & Stable and love the look it gives! To use this option, I fused sf101 interfacing to my exterior pieces and then constructed the entire front panel. I then used that as a template to cut one piece of Soft & Stable for the front and back panels and then continued as normal. I don’t think it would work as well if you used individual pieces of S&S as per the fleece instructions, as it would make the seams very bulky and it would be difficult to get a nice flat finish.
  • I cut my bag base stabilizer to be 12” x 4” rather than 17 ¾ x 4” as I found it difficult to manoeuvre the extra peltex bulk around the gusset corners.
  • I added 4 bag feet to all my bags as I think on a bag of this size they work really well.

IMG_1272

Thanks so much for having me!

 

Related Posts

20 thoughts on “Purse Palooza – Pattern Review – Two Pretty Poppets Goin’ Uptown Tote

  1. Maria says:

    Thanks for the great review Melisa ! This Goin’ Uptown tote is beautiful.

    1. Melisa says:

      Thanks Maria!

  2. Imal says:

    Looks awesome ! What do you call the gold circular metal posts in each handle ? What size are they ?
    Thank you

    1. Melisa says:

      Hi Imal ! Thanks they are called rivets and the size I used were small and 6mmx8mm which j purchased from Emmaline bags 🙂

  3. Jen Beatty says:

    I love how you incorporated many prints that I’ve been afraid to cut up and use on bags!

    1. Melisa says:

      Thanks Jen! Tula prints make such perfect centrepieces for bags don’t they!

  4. I adore this tote and know that several of my family members will love it also. Thank you for the great review. Have a wonderful creative day!

    1. Melisa says:

      So glad you enjoyed the review! Happy sewing 🙂

  5. Kristina says:

    Stunning bag made by one of my favourite bag makers, using a pattern by one of my favourite designers. Perfect.
    Great review as well

    1. Melisa says:

      mwah 😀

  6. Joanne R says:

    One of my favourite bag patterns. I love your versions Melisa. You are such a pro

  7. kylie says:

    What beautiful bags and a fabulous review. Loved reading this.

  8. Great review. Love this pattern!

  9. Ana Cristina Machado says:

    I have this pattern, and I really need to make this bag 🙂

  10. Lisa Ratford says:

    Thank you so much for such a lovely review Melisa! Your Goin’ Uptown Totes are always stunning, as are many of the bags you make <3 <3 <3

  11. Lori Smanski says:

    wow this is a wonderful purse. thanks for sharing

  12. Valerie says:

    Beautiful bag! Love the accent of the rivets on the handles. You mentioned an inner zip pocket. Are there any other pockets inside? Great work!

  13. James says:

    Another fabulous bag designed SaraLawson.

Comments make my day and I love to reply!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.