I’ve Got a Brand New Bag: Bias Tape Tote

I tried to make those pajama pants I mentioned in an earlier post, but they turned out to be designed for one giant oompa loompa. (I’m by no means perfect, but I’m definitely not a giant oompa loompa.) I may have to turn them into a tent.

One more successful thing to come out of my little break last week was a new bag for me. I followed the Belle Epoque Bias Tape Tote tutorial, which is a very easy-to-follow and quick little project. And most importantly, it is a project with pretty results.

Even with messing up the bias tape and having to rip out and redo some stitches, I was able to finish up this bag in about an hour. The instructions call for a yard each of your outer and lining fabric, but I don’t think you’ll really need that much. I think a half yard will do just fine. I used a scrap of Tracy Porter fabric I had left over from my brother’s quilt and some perfectly matched red fabric my grandmother sent home with me. The tiny red leaves and the solid red interior are my favorite parts of this bag. The punch of color just makes it seem so lively! I also decided to use batting to give the bag some shape and padding, instead of interfacing, which would have provided structure, but would not have been as soft.

I’m not the only one to have tried out Belle Epoque’s wonderful tutorial. Check out the Belle Epoque Flickr group to see what others have done with the pattern.

I actually intended for this to be a practice bag. I planned to make the “real” bag in a marvelous fabric I just bought, but I’ve fallen in love with the practice bag. I may save that other fabric for another project. Or maybe I will make another bias tape tote—you can’t have too many, right?

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