Custom Tote Bag

I made a custom tote bag.

I did not use a published pattern, I've been designing this pattern in my head and in tote bags for a while. The ladies at church really like it and I've made a bunch. Each bag's embroidery and color's are for the recipient. I even had one lady pick out the fabric online for her bag.
Each bag has 3 large patch pockets and four folded inside pockets. I always like longer straps, so the straps are 28 -29 inches long. I have been writing the directions for the pattern and should be finished this weekend.













I took a ton of pictures as I made this bag, for the tutorial. This time I actually wrote on the parts with a chalk marking pencil so the pieces were easier to see in the pictures. The only hard part is that this bag is black, with a black lining. The chalk showed up almost yellow.

I spent yesterday morning working on designs on the computer. I finished laying out a baby gift wallhanging. I want to spend this afternoon stitching out the parts. I mixed up the printed pages, so I need to go back and relook at the colors, I taped the wrong color charts to each of the four embroidery blocks. I'm happy with the designs, I decided to quilt the borders with. Now to cut and starch the basic blocks and sew. I'll post pictures as I finish.

I also finished a design for a polo shirt. I need to stitch that out today. All in All yesterday was a good day. I even picked up my new glasses. A few minutes of dizzy, but it went away quick. The bio-focal is a little higher than the last pair.