Super Tote ~ and a giveaway winner!

I've been teasing this finish for the last couple of days and am finally getting around to the full reveal.  The pattern is the Super Tote by Noodlehead (can be purchased here) and I recommend it!  This is the first of Anna's patterns that I have purchased and made.  Her instructions are concise and clear as can be, including awesome digital illustrations and full size printable pattern pieces.

My finished bag.....

First up, the fabric - I've said this before, but again let me say that my fabric shopping options are very limited locally.  I looked and looked online for ideas and just could not decide on anything (I'm a tad on the indecisive side!) so I figured to the local Fabricland I would go.  The floral outer and the plaid lining are both no-name fabrics.  haha  Nothing designer-ish printed on the selveges anyways.  The handles and gussets are a medium-weight denim, which I have to say worked really well.

Rather than use a whole bunch of various interfacings to make the bag, I chose to quilt the floral pieces before assembly.  I used a thin cotton batting and a canvas backing (which was very heavy), cutting the pieces slightly larger than needed in order to be able to trim the pieces to size after quilting and not end up with warped edges.  This did for sure produce a bag that will stand on its own, however in the future if I make this pattern again I'm not sure that I would use the canvas again.  I do like the quilted panels, but rather than the canvas I think I'd even try the denim as a backing, which I think would still do the trick but would not end up quite so stiff.  (NOTE: I did still use a medium weight fusible interfacing on the handles, and two layers on the gusset pieces.  I also interfaced the pocket facing even though the pattern didn't call for it.)  The pattern called for piping, store-bought or handmade, for the edging of the front pocket but I chose to simply make the pocket facing 1/2" wider so that I could sew it down to the front of the pocket piece, right sides facing, then flip it to the back to produce a faux-piping look.  I'm super happy with how it turned out.

Here you can see the lining fabric a bit better, as well as the recessed zipper.  I'm not super in love with the recessed zipper (maybe it's my aversion to attaching fabric tabs to the ends of zippers?).  If I made this bag again, I wonder if I might skip the zipper altogether and go with a magnetic snap closure.  Not sure. 

It was super hard to photograph the interior of the bag, but this gives you a bit of an idea.  The pattern called for elasticized pockets like this on both sides of the interior, but after making one I couldn't bring myself to make another so I kept one side plain!  The gathering and elasticizing was super challenging for me for some reason.  

I would absolutely recommend this pattern, and I will likely make it again in the future but including some of the modifications that I mentioned above.  I think this bag has loads of potential for customization, which is awesome.  Oh, and if any of you decide to make it, the one thing I would absolutely recommend, especially if you pre-quilt the outers and end up with thick layers of fabric, is to use a 90/14 jeans machine needle.  That's what I used for the entire project and I had no problems at all, even on my machine that sometimes produces skipped stitches on thick layers. 

And finally for today, I'd like to announce the winner of the two mini charm packs that I offered a few days ago to celebrate my 100,000th pageview.  I had 72 entires, and the winner chosen by random number generator is.....#14.  Deb@asimplelifequilts.  Congratulations!  I will be sending you an email soon.

Linking up with Finish it up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts
Linking up with Show & Tell Tuesday @ i have to say