Nest Egg Tote

I am so thrilled to have finished this tote bag, and it is officially my first sewing make of 2015!

Below is my Carolyn Friedlander - Nest Egg Tote.

I first spied this lovely pattern when I browsing through my instagram, it really stood out to me on Carolyn's page, and immediately fell for the unusual design. 

The tote is designed to initially to hold all of your sewing goodies whilst on the go, while this isn't usually something that happens for me I wanted to give the pattern a go.

I chose to use some Sew Caroline fabrics from her Gleeful range that I already had in my stash, I am so glad I did because I think the pop of colour compliments the tote shape nicely. 

I started this bag really not anticipating the amount of work that it would hold, there is a lot of measuring, cutting, and interfacing to be done before the sewing can begin- but that is in no way a criticism. 

The pattern called for some fairly strong interfacing, I couldn't find the one mentioned so I opted for the next best thing, which in strength worked wonderfully in ensuring the bag held it's shape. I did however encounter some problems sewing through the thicknesses, it turns out my lovely little Brother XR-65 machine is not too fond of the super strong interfacing I used. (I can't really blame my machine- its a whole 10 years old, and I have really put it through its paces in the past). 

I managed to sew everything together, but in places the stitching doesn't really fall into the 'pretty' category. 

I had the odd problem finding the right sized components here in the UK too. The tote handle is only 19mm wide, so finding appropriate buckle and D-rings proved a little tricky. (Ok, well not that tricky, but I wanted to order from the UK so I could get started ASAP, rather that waiting for some shiny metal ones to arrive from China)

I opted for some white plastic buckles and matching D-rings, I am happy with them for this project, but next time round, I want something a little more....snazzy! 

I made the tote exactly as the pattern recommended, I just wanted to get a feel for how it was going to look rather than going crazy with the changes just yet!

The Gleeful fabric was a dream to work with, I am a sucker for a quirky polka dot, so this fabric was perfect for me. I really do like the quality of Art Gallery Fabrics. 

I loved making this bag, I am not going to lie, there were times where this project sat on my sewing table for a few days because I was apprehensive about making the next step, but it was totally worth it in the end! 

It is a fairly intense make and I believe that fabric and notion choices are key to this project being a success. I have definitely learnt a lot on this one and already have plans for Nest Egg Tote number two!

(p.s. If you have this pattern already and are wondering which method I used to attach the lining, I went for the hand stitching method. I toyed with the idea of the glue gun as recommended but, the glue gun and I are not always friends, so I hand stitched the lining in with a beading needle.) 

Fabric - Gleeful range by Sew Caroline for Art Gallery Fabrics

Notions - White buckles ebay, D-rings -Kleins of London 

And lastly a few photos of the Tote with my drawing materials stashed inside.

~HJF~