Giant Tote Bag Class

Over a week ago, sewing and quilting students Claudia and Denise came over for some instruction and help with making humongous tote bags. We had a good day, and accomplished our goal of a useful tote bag for each of them.

This Jumbo Bag is the pattern Claudia found and copied for us. It makes a nice big bag, and since both Claudia and Denise travel extensively to dog shows with lots of paraphernalia, this bag seemed perfectly suited to their needs.

Claudia used heavier fabric than quilting cotton for her bag. I would categorize it as duck or home dec weight.  Quite a pretty design for a bag, and her lining was well-chosen, too. I took liberties with the handles. The pattern called for making handles that seemed like they'd be too flimsy for the weight needed on the bags we were making. I bought webbing in gray, white and black, and both were happy to have sturdier handles on their bag. Claudia applied her webbing directly to the bag; Denise covered hers with fabric that matched her fabric. Both versions looked really good.

Denise used fabrics that were cotton weight. We adjusted the size of her outer pocket to catch under the straps, thus eliminating extra stitching on the pocket. I like the contrast the pocket and straps give to the bag. I can see this being quite useful for traveling purposes - and fashionable, too.

Now these two dog-lovers are becoming quite the prolific quilters. I have a whole lot of additional pictures of "extra credit" projects they have recently worked on. I will prepare them for a post tomorrow, so come on back for a look at their handywork!

Happy Quilting, Friends!