{sewing} Sweet Harmony for me and Sass

     I'm back in my "bag phase" now. Yes, my bag phase. I sew in phases. Right now I am having the hardest time finishing a quilt I need done in two weeks, but for some reason I had the ambition to come home on Monday night and make two Sweet Harmony totes. Two! I owed my best friend Sass a bag from a long time ago. Her and I both carry quite the load back and forth to work each day. Daily in my bag you'll find my MacBook, Nikon D40, portfolio, agenda, phone, iPod, wallet, and my cord/USB case. You may think this is not necessary, but you see to me, it is.

MacBook: For when my moms antiquated PC takes forever to load a webpage and she needs to do ordering.
Nikon D40: Pictures! For webpage, blog, sewing patterns, and newsletter.
Portfolio: I need this for my design ideas. It holds my sketches and figuring on graph paper.
Agenda: Keeps me on track...part of my Obsessive Creative Disorder.
Phone: Hello? For phone calls.
iPod: To keep good music on in the store. Radio stations get old.
Wallet: Just in case.
Cord/USB Case: This holds all my camera connect cord, laptop cords and USB sticks from work. I keep my designs on these so I am able to work from home at night.

All necessary. This gets to be a lot and carrying more than one bag is not fun, so I decided to make us both a Sweet Harmony Tote, one of Amy Butlers new patterns. I have been anxiously awaiting it's arrival in the store and since its been in, I've been eyeing which fabrics it would be in. Monday we both made a decision and I cut them out. I figured the Henry Ford way of doing things was a bit faster, so why not sew two at once?
      The first tote was made with Amy Butlers Love Home Dec Trumpet Flowers in pink on the outside and Stone Path in pink on the inside. I then lined the two outside pockets and inside pockets with Kaufman corduroy in Melon. The exterior bottom as well as under the strap is also corduroy.

     I added a magnetic snap because with a tote this large, it gapes open without it. I then finished the bag with topstitching the front pocket, and the strap. I try to do as much topstitching as possible to give a cleaner, more polished look. I also matched up the patterns, or "fussy cut" as we like to say, on the front and on the sides. I love the way this one turned out. 

     For my bag I chose a print that I have been drooling over in the store ever since it came in. Amy's Sandlewood in Ivory. Yum! I love the pink/peach color, especially this time of year. I lined mine with the Stone Path in Pink, and Melon corduroy for the pockets and strap. I also thought it necessary to have the Melon corduroy on the bottom, since the print is so light. 

I made sure to fussy cut this bag as well and finished with topstitching. 

     For the lining I wanted to have my pockets fit my agenda and wallet, so I altered them accordingly. I also added a pocket on the interior side to hold pens/pencils.

Maybe more of these to come. I am thinking one with our laminates for the lake this summer..or maybe this will be my new diaper bag for friends...with slight modifications. It has so many possibilities and I can't wait to see what I dream up next!

Happy Stitching xx