(Another) Gift For My Sister

I love making quilty gifts for my sister. She was, after all, the one who led me to this obsession. Last year I made her a wall hanging, which has become one of my favorite quilts. This year I decided to stretch myself by making her a bag...Elizabeth Hartman's Sewing Circle Tote. Oh my, what was I thinking??? I have always said, "I don't sew, I quilt."

I have to admit, this was a challenge...one I thoroughly enjoyed. I used materials I had never heard of (cotton webbing, fusible interfacing, Peltex...what????) and tried techniques new to me (zipper pouches, elastic pouches)...oh, my!!! Fortunately, I had Cindy as my go to person to email and text throughout the making of the bag!!! You can see her bag (which is awesome) here.

The pattern called for making the long and short straps first.

These wonder clips eased my pain quite a bit

After successfully making the straps and the bottom of the bag, I felt pretty confident ;-) Next up was making the four outer pockets using the quilt as you go method (a first for me). This ended up quite time consuming, as I spent probably an entire day decided on what scraps to use.

What a hot mess ;-)

Below are some progress shots, taken quickly, as I was rushed to finish before Rene's birthday!!

After what seemed a lifetime, I had my four outer pockets.

My first zipper pouch EVER...not pretty, but it worked

Below is a picture of the bag delivered to my sister in Montana.

Picture stolen from Rene's Instagram

Of course, no posting of mine is complete without a glam shot (or two) of My Frustration, who is always on hand to provide support ;-)

Bless his heart...he was exhausted upon finishing the bag!!

I guess I can no longer say that I don't sew. In fact, I have purchased another Elizabeth Hartman bag pattern!! A big shout out to her...she has the most detailed and illustrated patterns...almost "Michelle proof."

Thanks, as always, for visiting my blog!!

~ Michelle ~