Monday, August 22, 2011

Triple Tote

For several weeks now I've been mulling over how to make the bag I saw a woman carrying at the doctor's office. Hers was commercially-made, but I thought it might work using the pretty "Outside Oslo" canvas weight home dec fabric I purchased from Marmalade Fabrics.

I've named my bag Triple Tote because that's what it is - one, two, or three separate bags that can be carried simultaneously or individually. The strap, with swivel hooks at each end, allow me to carry whichever bag I want, or all three at once!

Fusible fleece gives shape to each bag, as do 2"-wide boxed bottoms. To help define the bag shape, I pressed a fold into the bottom and sides that I then edge-stitched. A tabbed D-ring on each side of a bag can be clipped to the swivel hook.

small tote - 10-1/2" wide X 6-1/2" tall




The yellow bag is the smallest at 10" wide by 6-1/2" tall. This is the one I'll probably use most often by itself, when running errands.














The medium bag (right) measures 10" wide X 8" deep, and is made with my favorite of these three Oslo prints.









The largest bag is 10" wide X 10-1/2" deep. It's no accident that this one can hold an IPad2... should I ever be so fortunate to own one.
All three bags are lined and have a divided 6" X 6" inside pocket. The 2" side is for pens, lip gloss or reading glasses; the 4" side perfectly holds my cell phone.

To make the zipper pull easier to grab, I threaded a piece of the Oslo selvage through the eye of the pull. The canvas selvage weave is dense enough that it shouldn't unravel.

It took some time to make a bag - zipper, lining, pocket, D-ring tabs, box bottom and edge stitching - and then make it again... and again. This heavier weight fabric assures me they should hold up well, and now I have a variety of options for actually using them.

The fair is over for another year, so this afternoon I'm off to the fairgrounds to pick up my quilts. Now I get to figure out what to do with my ribbon winnings... all $15 worth.  Linda

14 comments:

  1. Interesting bag idea! And what else should you do with your fair winnings than buy more fabric??

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  2. Aren't YOU the clever one?? I love it!

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  3. cool bags! I've never seen it but love it.
    Edith

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  4. $15!!!! Laughable, isn't it...

    You need to make this into a pattern, you could sell it. We did get to the fair yesterday so got to see your lovely quilts in person...

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  5. Oh, these turned out so cute! They will be great for your vacation!

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  6. The bags are just great. Your favorite fabric is mine as well. Very nice.

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  7. Great tote idea Linda...all three together make for some serious shopping..
    A whole $15..really!...
    Julia ♥

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  8. Linda this is a great idea! I would not have thought of adding bags to the handle like that...but how wonderful for traveling. blessings, marlene

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  9. Linda, this is absolutely AWESOME! Your did a superb job.

    Thanks for your kind kind words on my quilting. You are giving me a big head. ;)

    Hope your week goes well and as planned!

    Hugs.

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  10. What a clever idea! I love it that it can be used individually or all together. I'm sure you'll get lots of use for it. And yes, you should indeed make a patter to sell. I would buy one ;).

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  11. Your bags are darling. What a clever idea. Your $15 winnings might just be enough to pay for the gas to get you to the fair grounds and back home!!

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  12. You did a great job on the bags and what a clever idea.

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  13. What an interesting tote. And you are so smart to figure out how to make one.
    $15 will buy a couple yards of fabric for the next quilt to enter in the fair.

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  14. Love the bags Linda. You do such lovely work!

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