And now for something completely different!

Well, the end of the summer is fast approaching, and for me, school is rearing it’s ugly head. I’m definitely going to be slowing down on the blogging front, because work is really starting to pile up!

Although I’ve thanked you all individually, I’ll do it again right here: thanks so much for your advice on my font choices (and if you’d still like to chime in, the more the merrier!). I’m really working in a vacuum here most of the time, I love getting feedback! So thank you!

I won’t fret over how much I have to do right now…instead, I want to show you a new style of tote bag:

I LOVE my canvas bags – they’re pretty, tough as nails, and full of useful pockets. They’re also very labor intensive, which is why I’m going to a commission model on them, making them exactly for a particular user. One of the tough things about making bags is making sure no raw edges are exposed – and the more parts & pieces there are, the more seams to worry about.

What I’ve been thinking about is designing a very simple bag where the focus is on a spectacular piece of dyed fabric – my dyer’s weight fabric rather than the heavy canvas. The hope is I could create something beautiful and simple, with a pattern that easily adapts to differently sized pieces of fabric. Usually when I work on bags, I have a “pattern” that looks like this:

This bag’s 1st & only draft pattern looked like this:

And it’s all that I needed!

Inside a simple divided patch pocket and key leash (ALWAYS gotta have a key leash!)

The dimensions of this one were so one of my big notetakers would fit inside, along with LOTS of other books:

I’m working on a commission tote with a special request for one long strap rather than the two handles, so here was a perfect opportunity to try this concept out:

I LOVE it – and now know it’ll work great on the commission!

I also love the little triangle-fold detail here:

The one thing I was NOT prepared for was how much structure I got from just a single layer of fleece and med. weight fusible interfacing – this tote bag is completely empty, and look, it’s holding up my ruler! WooHoo!

So, my friends, I think this prototype works great, I’ll probably incorporate some sort of closure (magnetic snap I think) and I’m looking forward to whipping up a few more of these fun bags!