Senna Totes

Recently I was part of a fun little gift swap between some bloggers. I used it as a great reason to purchase the awesome Senna Tote Pattern, so that I could make myself one as well.

I’ll start with the one I made for myself, since it’s my favorite bag ever :).

I’ve been saving this bird fabric for a long time now. It’s Michael Miller Flight in Black and I love it. It was going to become a dress bodice at some point for Bailey, but she has so many dresses I just never got around to it. The black and white striped fabric is from Ikea (I had to ask Alexia from Lexi Made what fabric she made hers with so I could copy her a little). And the mustard yellow inside and on the zipper ends is just some linen look fabric from Joann.

I’m not going to lie. Though I absolutely LOVE the end result, this bag was not an easy sew for me, because of the layers. There is a canvas interlining and then when everything is interfaced and when I choose fabric on the outside that is thicker than just quilting cotton, well, it’s get tricky.  If I hadn’t cut this bag out at the same time as my first bag for my gift exchange, then I may not have ever made myself one.  Just a little more time consuming overall and I guess I’m more into garment sewing. 

Regardless, the pattern is amazing, makes perfect sense, and is so well done.  I opted not to topstitch by the zipper since the topstitching was hard to do on the first bag and I didn’t love the end result.

One thing to note, is that I did take in the bag at the sides–I cut it about 1″ thinner width-wise to make it just a bit smaller.  I’m so glad I did that because it is still very roomy and can hold so much, but it’s not so big anymore that I feel a little awkward toting it around at church. I’m using it for my church calling and it holds everything beautifully. I’m just so glad it’s done ;).

 

 

And for the gift swap recipient (Melissa Uribe from Sew Like My Mom) I made this–and was a bit embarrassed by how it turned out but it was a labor of love:). The top-stitching–oh how crappy my machine thought top-stitching was for this bag pattern–too many layers is my best guest.  No matter how slow and steady I sewed, it just didn’t want to look good.  And don’t look at the left strap and the uneven stitch line.  Blah.  Anyways, gift swaps can be stressful, ha!  And this cements in my mind why I don’t sell and sew!

Both fabrics on this bag are from Joann.

Happy weekend!  Yay!