Thursday, January 13, 2011

The Winslow Market Tote Chronicles: Episode Two























If you read this blog regularly you will know that in the weeks leading up to Christmas I made a lot of Winslow Market Totes.

Something about this pattern has struck a chord with me, and despite having made no less than five Winslow Market Totes in the past month and a half, I'm still not tired of making them!























I wrote about the first Winslow Market Tote I ever made here (when we did our Holiday Craft Swap), but thought that it might be fun to share all of the Winslow Market Totes, so today you are getting Winslow Market Tote number two.

Besides the overall composition and construction of the bag, one of the things I like about this pattern is how it makes use of fat quarters. 5 fat quarters will make the bag's exterior, but if you want your bag to look symmetrical, like mine, then 2 of your 5 fat quarters will have to be the same (so you could look at it as needing 3 fat quarters and 1/2 yard for the bag exterior).























I liked using the Fall 2010 Echino collection to make up this bag, because some of the Echino prints are so fun to fussy cut. I used this fabric for the bag's side panels and made sure to cut the pattern pieces so that I would get an interesting detail in each panel. I love using larger scale prints in smaller applications, because they always make you focus on those little details in the print that you might otherwise have missed... like this hot orange spiderweb!























I must have been drinking when I made this bag, or sleepy, or tired, or something similar, because I somehow made the straps a bit more narrow than the pattern calls for. I definitely prefer the wider straps, but by the time I realized my mistake I was past The Point of No Return, so this bag is stuck with narrow straps for all eternity.

I still think it looks fine, though.























I will share my other Winslow Market Totes with you in the next few days.

In the meantime, the pattern can be found for free here.

(Thanks so much to the pattern's designer, Kathy Mack of Pink Chalk Studios and to Interweave Press for making this great pattern available to the masses!)

See you soon...

XO,

Rhea

5 comments:

Bumbles and Fairy-Tales said...

Ooo, I adore all of your totes! I love totes and have so many! but it's true, you can never have too many :)
Thanks for sharing!
hugs, margie

anne said...

i made the market tote for three christmas presents, but i switched out the handles for the handles in your fabulous tote (with the iron on vinyl) because it seemed to be better. i love this tote and have two more cut out waiting to be sewn. thank you for sharing all the awesomeness

Conny said...

Very nice bags!!! You do really good work

Kathy - Pink Chalk Studio said...

So cool to hear you enjoyed making the Winslow Market Tote! I LOVE all the bags you've made. Thank you! xo Kathy

Colette said...

You had me at Echino...its just plain FABULOUS!