Hillside Tote II

It's been over a month now that I've been using my Hillside Tote, made with the pattern by Anna Graham of Noodlehead. It's been great, and after admiring it for a bit, my mom asked if I'd make her one too. Honestly, I told her "yes" right away, with just one caveat: It had to be with a waxed canvas exterior and a canvas lining, so I didn't have to deal with interfacing. She was happy with that, so we went online shopping for the needed supplies.

Here's what we ordered:

• Light Olive 10 oz. Hand Waxed Cotton Canvas from A.L.Frances Textiles.
• Robert Kaufman Big Sur Canvas in Bordeaux from CrosscutSewingCo.
• Redwood Tote Hardware Kit [contained the needed two 1″-wide d-rings plus two 1″-wide swivel clasps] from Noodlehead. Mom chose a nickel finish for these items. We also purchased a 54" length of 1" leather in Rustic for the bag strap.
• 24" Handbag Zipper in Cranberry from ByAnnie. [This was longer than was needed, but Mom preferred the larger zipper and pull, so I trimmed to fit. That was easy to do since it had a nylon coil vs. the metal zip I used in my tote.]

Where I made the Mini size tote for myself, Mom preferred the Regular size, and it was nice to see how the two sizes compared. 

I usually move very slowly through the construction steps when making a bag, but having done it once, I felt pretty comfortable just moving right along. Really, using the two canvas fabrics and no contrasting exterior simplified the making of this bag dramatically. Though I should note that Anna suggests a little lighter waxed canvas for the exterior - ie. The Waxer Canvas I used in my bag had a weight of 8.2 oz. per square yard, vs. the 10 oz. of the waxed canvas I used for mom's. That was solely due to color availability, and though it might have made things a tiny bit harder to manage, it all worked out great, and we love it in the finished bag. I did use a jeans needle and polyester thread for the final construction, which I highly recommend.

I really loved the color combo Mom chose for her tote. The bordeaux lining paired with the olive exterior added alot of interest, just like the mustard and blue in the bag I made for myself. The larger size of this version measured 9.5" wide x 3"deep (measured at base), 9.25" tall, with width at top opening of 12.5". It's definitely a little roomier than the smaller 'mini,' but not too large, and perfect for summer.

So that's it for bag-making for a while. One more quilt deadline to meet, then it's back to some improv, I think.