It's a Cinch Tote Bag

I made this tote bag as a gift for my DIL, Zlaty's Mother, Rumiana.  She loves to knit and makes such beautiful things.  I really wanted to make her something that she could use to carry her knitting.  I came across this pattern "It's a Cinch" in the Fall 2010 issue of Quilts and More.  It was designed by Laura Jaquinto.  When I saw it, I thought this is it!

One of the things that I really liked about it is the fact that you could close it up some by using the carrying handles.  I also liked the size which is 17 1/2" x 18 3/4" x 4".

The bag that was made for the magazine used a border stripe for the center.  I thought that it would be a perfect spot for featuring an embroidery design.  I am trying to use my embroidery feature wherever I can.

The instructions called for using grommets, but I am not a huge fan of grommets.  I have had a number of them pull out of my item, so I decided to do buttonholes instead.  This was the first time that I did buttonholes using my Pfaff Creative Performance.  They are beautiful!

The instructions also used ribbon for the back of the strap and for the binding.  I didn't have ribbon, so I just used all fabric and it worked out fine.  I am finding that I really enjoy being a little creative and using whatever I have on hand.

When I got to the lining, I discovered that I had gotten confused on the amount of fabric that was needed.  So I went to my stash and picked out some coordinating fabrics that would work and altered the pattern to work with what I had.  I made the pocket a different fabric and added a different fabric for the lower half of the lining.  I actually like the look of it instead of it being all the same.

This bag was so much fun to make and it made up rather quickly.  I think I see one of these in my future!  I actually did a test design many years ago when I was at a Pfaff dealer class.  It will be perfect for the center of the front of the bag and it would be great to finally use it!

Wishing you many hours of happy sewing!

Jean