Sunday 7 August 2016

Kate, the Carry All Tote by Moments

Kate is the latest pattern by Liz at Moments........and she's an absolute beauty.
The pattern is for a large beach tote that's an ideal size for swim gear and everything you will need for a day at the beach or pool
you can find the pattern here

As always with moments patterns there's a twist in the construction, but if you've done a moments pattern before then you will know Liz's style.........

So.......for my first bag I went a little off piste! (not such a surprise for me eh?)  rather than doing her in the pieced panels that the pattern needs I decided to do her in one large panel......I decided to decorate my bag with some cutwork flowers..........
I've had a set of cutters for several years but use the same ones over and over so went a little wild with some of the unusual shapes  so if you have these....don't feel they are just for making holes for your twist locks.......lol


The bonus is you end up with a whole lot of faux leather confetti.......so if your going to a wedding soon you already have some to throw....


So here she is......my first Kate......in all her hippy glory
Fully lined in waterproof vinyl fabric with a large zippered pocket that has a slip pocket inside, so no chance of loosing your valuables on the beach.


 For my second bag I decided to go small..........and I did the pattern at 50% which creates a bag a 1/4 of the size of the original........again I did her in one single panel but added some pretty butterfly embroidery to decorate and red webbing tape
she's the perfect size to carry all our lotions for the beach and fits inside 'big' Kate perfectly.


I thought id finished making this design.....until a moment of thought hit me late one evening and I decided that maybe something half way between the little and the large might be interesting..........with that in mind I made another at 75%......


 Number three is made on embossed faux leather with a cotton lining, I added an additional slip pocket inside as well as the large zipper pocket from the original pattern and also a bridge zipper to close..........she is the perfect 'in between' size.........so that's my full set of Kate's completed.......


As always the pattern is beautifully written and has a lot of photos, lots of tips for when things are a little different. The pattern is designed for faux leather but also has instructions for cotton or home decor fabrics......
I love the slip pocket inside the zipper pocket......just a little detail but it makes perfect sense to put one in there. and the additional outer pocket that is totally hidden gives somewhere to just slip your phone......making the whole bag uber functional whilst still keeping her simple lines.

words of advice??? oh yes.......clear your sewing table of everything before you start.........because she only has one seam the panel you are working with is huge.........and when your sewing her you will knock anything that's on your table off.........take my word for it, its easier to move them than spend hours picking up......

Kate isn't a complicated sew, the real challenge is the size.......Liz's tip about rolling the panel to make it easier is definatly the way to go......

Make sure you observe the notches.....im guilty of ignoring them on previous patterns so now I'm a notch convert..........she will not go together well if you ignore them as the seam isn't where you would expect it to be.......lol

Most of all she's versatile.........easy to shrink down if you prefer a smaller version......

Have fun sewing her...........



5 comments:

  1. What a great post. Thank you for all of the info. The pictures are such a fantastic help. You sound like me in my other life. I could not keep up with you now. Enjoy and take advantage of your youth.
    Question........where are you finding your faux suede?

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    1. I find my faux leather and suedes online or in local stores, I'm in the uk so we have dunelm mill and they do some basic faux leathers..........everything else is from the internet, some from Germany/usa......im not sure I'm overly youthful, I'm a woman who doesn't like to waste any time....life is finite, so I try and fill every moment with something......often I sew for 18 hours a day.......lol

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  2. Fabulous post--both informational and entertaining! Gorgeous bags!

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  3. Fabulous post--both informational and entertaining! Gorgeous bags!

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  4. Can you tell us the finished sizes of your 75% and 50% bags?

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