Hillside Tote III

It seems I've been doing plenty of sewing lately, just not quilts! Since I finished my Kantha quilt, I've just been sewing other things, one of which was another Hillside Tote, which was made as a gift for my sister-in-law.

I'd actually made this pattern twice before - once for myself, and once for my mom. As she did for the tote I made her, mom chimed in on all the details for this bag. We settled on the regular size, which measures 9.5" wide by 3" deep (measured at base), 9.25" tall, with a width at top opening of 12.5". After struggling to find the waxer canvas we'd hoped to find online, I realized I had enought canvas left from making mom's bag for this bag too. It was a Light Olive 10 oz. Hand Waxed Cotton Canvas Fabric from ALFrancesTextiles on Etsy. It's a tiny bit heavier than the pattern suggests but worked great both times.

For lining, we ordered Kaufman's Big Sur Cotton Canvas in Mustard from Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics, And then from the pattern designer, Anna of Noodlehead, we picked up a Redwood Tote Hardware Kit which inclued the hardware we needed, as well as a 1" leather handle in 54" length in Rustic, a 12" nylon handbag zipper in Monster Snot, plus some leather zipper pulls. Boy I love when you can get so much of what you need from one shop!

One great (to me) thing about pairing the waxed canvas with the cotton canvas on this bag is that there is no need for fusible interfacing. Honestly, that step seems to take so much time in prepping your materials, that I'm glad when it isn't needed. And having made this bag twice, it went together pretty quickly! I love the design, and know from experience that the bag will be sturdy and handy to use. Mom and I also both love the leather strap which is a snap to make and looks so good. Anyway, the tote is now in the hands of the recipient, and here's hoping she enjoys hers as well as mom and I have ours.

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.

Hillside Tote + Minimalist Wallet

Spring is definitely here, and even though we're still not going out much, a new bag was in order. I settled on the Hillside Tote, a pattern by Anna Graham of Noodlehead. I love that she makes multiple versions of each of her patterns in different substrates or other options. After perusing several, I decided I'd make one similar to her Green Hillside Tote. With a Waxer Canvas exterior and a canvas 'lining,' Anna omitted the use of any interfacing and that sounded like a win to me!

I did have to hunt a bit to gather all of my supplies. Thought I'd list them all here for your reference as well as mine.

• Robert Kaufman Waxer Canvas in Turkish Sea, Bolt Fabric Boutique
• Robert Kaufman Big Sur Canvas in Mustard, Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics
• And from Noodlehead, I was able to purchase most of the hardware. Basically the Redwood Tote Hardware Kit contained some of the items - two 1″-wide d-rings, one 1″-wide strap slider (which I didn't end up using), and two 1″-wide swivel clasps. I chose a nickel finish for these items. Anna also stocks the necessary zippers [I chose a gray nickel zipper.] + 1" leather handles in Rustic.
• Nickel rivets were purchased from another vendor, but I really wish they'd been in stock at MinkusMargo, as I think the ones I'd bought there previously were better quality. Oh well.

As usual when making a bag, I took my time, doing a few steps per sewing session. An important thing to remember is NO PRESSING when using waxed canvas, but luckily finger-pressing works great. Also, if you haven't used it before, don't freak out too much as your canvas gets scuffed up as you work with it. It can't be avoided, and really shouldn't be, as it definitely adds to the look of the finished bag.

I made the 'mini' version of the bag, vs. the 'regular.' It measures 8 ¼” wide by 2 ½” deep (measured at base), 8 ¼” tall, width at top opening is 10 ½”, and I think it's perfect for something lightweight yet sturdy for spring and summer. It went together swimmingly, and despite one slightly crooked rivet on the strap, I have no complaints whatsoever.

Soooo, once the tote was done, it suddenly made perfect sense to make a coordinating Minimalist Wallet to use with it. Another pattern by Anna, I made the 'mini,' which measures 4 ½” W x 3 ½” H rather than the 'regular,' which is sized more like your average wallet. Happily, I had enough of the mustard canvas to use for the exterior. I found a sweet stashed fabric for the zippered pocket, and I have no idea why, but I also had a gold 4" zipper on hand, which was perfect!

There was a slight misunderstanding on my part which left me to spending a little time with my seam ripper, but it wasn't too traumatic; and before long, I was back on track and had a finished wallet. 

I made it a little harder on myself by going off-script as to Anna's suggested fabrics for this little project, but then again, I have a pretty cute little companion to use with my bag, so there's that.

Gotta say, I really enjoyed the little bag-making detour and am looking forward to putting my new pair to good use!