A Different Kind of Gift Bag

Daughter-dear is a master at fabric gift bags, so when it was her special day, I couldn't resist stitching one up for her. Rather than my typical draw-string bag, I went for the Big Patchwork Tote by Ayumi Mills/Pink Penguin from Krista Hennebury's book,  Make It, Take It: 16 Cute and Clever Projects to Sew with Friends. I had made the Little Patchwork Tote a while back, and knew it wouldn't hold Rachel's gift. But at 21" wide x 13 1/2" tall, I suspected the larger one would, plus I figured it would be very reusable as a tote.

This bag goes together very nicely, and even on the second go-round, the bottom panel came together like magic. I didn't think to get a photo of that, but it's clever construction. One added note, I chose to use Pellon PF101 Shape-Flex interfacing, rather than the fusible fleece or heavy interfacing suggested. Basically, I am just really fond of the woven Shape-Flex, though it obviously made a pretty lightweight, unstructured bag, which I like.

And dare I say, I could hardly go wrong mixing and matching my Cotton + Steel prints. I'm pretty sure Rachel was good with that too.