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