I  have seen this bag around on the internet The one that convinced me was the picture posted on instagram by Julie, a French blogger –joliebobines.wordpress.com (here is the link to her post about the bag both in French and English! And since a big bag is always handy! I decided it was about time to give it a go!

It all started with me not being able to go to the Secret Sale at Abakhan in Mostyn.  I was itching to go, had to settle with a little trip to my local shop! When I got there Maggie was demonstrating a tote bag for Abakhan. So sad they cannot do classes in Bolton or Manchester! So, while chatting with her and the other ladies around I kind of decided to make some of them tote bags as well and wanted some fabric for them! Fount the perfect one in the curtain section!

I got two of the three variations on offer and by end of day all fabric was cut to make the bags, but more about them another time when I finish  them.

And  since I was still left with some fabric after that I decided that The Orton Bag, the free pattern/tutorial offered by Merchant and Mills was perfect!

I just followed the instructions on this one ! As some of you know I do not like flappy facings/corners so the only thing that I did different was to stich the finished corners in palace towards the side seams, like so:   This project is  a very fast one and super easy even for a beginner. Instructions are clear and you can adapt it to a different size if you feel the back is to big, or make it bigger if you fancy!

I even used my new sewing labels in this one! There are plenty of tutorial on the internet. So if you fancy making your own just do a search. I made the heat transfer ones. I already had the special paper needed iron on T-Shirt transfer paper – some supermarkets have them in their office supplies areas.

I think I will make this bag again, maybe a tad smaller for presents!  I am doing all these bags to avoid dealing with my hem on a circle skirt in chiffon! But  the deadline (wedding I will go to and plan wearing this skirt at) is fast approaching and will have to finish it soon! But until then, I will continue to be distracted by other projects.

Do you tend to start other projects to avoid finishing others too?