This post is part of Purse Palooza 2013.
For full schedule of guest post pattern reviews and prizes, click here!
Elena of Hot Pink Stitches is a quilting and bag-making fool! She also has an Etsy shop. Check out all of her creations in her amazing taste in fabric!
I am thrilled to be participating in Purse Palooza this round, as bags are my passion, so this was a good excuse to make a new one. And I was especially excited to be reviewing the Pleated Tote Tutorial from The Sewing Rabbit. This bag calls for an upcycled belt as the strap, so before I ever even tried this pattern, I was stocking up at the J.Crew summer clearance in anticipation of loving it.
It’s a great pattern as is, but of course I couldn’t resist making my own little adjustments based on certain bag features I tend to like, so I’m going to walk you through what I did.
I’ve been loving this Yarn Dyed Essex Linen in black that I got from Westwood Acres, and being who I am, I had to pair it with a favorite pink print and pink patent leather belt.
The adjustment I made from the start was to add more structure to the bag. I like them to pretty much be able to stand on their own, so I did a layer of Shape Flex on all pieces, with a layer of fusible fleece on the body, and sew-in peltex on the accent band. I warn you, this amount/thickness of interfacing is not for the faint of heart, but if you’re experienced, then go for it! It does make things a little more challenging.
Next, since I was using the thick fleece, I wanted to make sure my pleats would stay down and look nice and defined, not puffy. So I marked my pleat with 2″ between each mark……
…..and secured the pleat fold with Wonder Clips. I then edge stitched 4″ down, and went back and did another line of stitching 1/4″ over from the first one simply to make it look a little more pretty.
The result is a lovely accented pintuck that will stay crisp, despite my fervor for interfacing.
Once I got everything sewn together, I was a little unhappy with how enormous the bag was! I mean, that is a huge bag, and I’m a short person, so this wasn’t going to work for me. And I wanted this to be my new everyday bag, soooo, I got brave, pulled out my rotary cutters and shortened it!
The result is a much more practical short person bag that I know I’ll get a lot of use from.
The rivets were not easy to attach, but that’s what my husband is for: grommet and rivet hammering. I got all the rivet supplies from Amazon. They have a ton of choices and reasonable prices. And if you’re not ready to make the investment in the leather punch and rivets, you could easily add a regular strap to this bag instead.
The genius hidden outer pocket! I love this feature so much and am so glad I learned to do it.
Overall, I really liked this bag! The pattern is very straightforward and would be good for an advanced beginner. (The pocket insertion is the only thing that I feel keeps it from being super beginner.) It’s a very customizable design, so you could easily apply your own measurements to this concept and make it work for you. It is something that can be completed from start to finish on a weekend afternoon or over a couple of shorter evenings.
Love the pink and gray combo. I like the shorter bag much better.
Hello genius idea of using a belt! Have you seen the sparkly skinny belts at Target, would be so cute!!
Wow, love the belt use and the hidden pocket!
This is a great review. I love the fabric combination, that hidden pocket is sick! and the hot pink leather straps are truly icing on the cake. Was that a belt you just re-purposed? Well done! The little tag-a-peekin- is super cute, too!
now I have even more of a reason to buy belts! : )
I just love your fabric choices! Very pretty bag 🙂 Cindy
I am in love!! I was just wondering what to do with the super cute belts my teens are “over.”
Wow, I love the use of the belt, thats ingenious!
Beautiful bag, and that secret pocket…LOVE! Thanks for the review!
Fabulous bag and I love the pocket too!
Ooooh I love that pocket! This would be a good bag for thin wool! Thanks for being a part of this palooza!
Nice bag. Thanks for the review!
hahahahahha – I just about died laughing when I saw you write a ‘short person bag’ – LOL. I love what you did with it!!! thanks so much!!!
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Love the pink . Love the belt handles. Love the finished bag. Very brave to cut that bag down, but it is so much better when you make it your own.
I love this bag and the shortened version the best. Pink is so my color also. You are a wonder.
How cute! Great idea using belt. How brilliant that pocket is!
Pretty color combo plus those handels look fab!
Love the Essex Yarn Dyed Linen/Cotton blends from Kaufman ! They are ridiculously yummy.
That’s very cute! love the hidden pocket idea! 🙂 great job with the rivets. tricky lil things