Saturday 26 November 2011

A Walk in the Woods- Mini Tote Tutorial

Aneela, Moda fabric designer extraordinaire kindly sent me and some other UK bloggers generously filled parcels full of scraps from her forth coming line A Walk in the Woods, released Spring 2012, what a treat!  I knew the first thing I was going to make, and here it is.
This is an easy adaptation of my mini tote tutorial.  I made this one for my niece's Christmas present, you know how young children love bags for carrying their treasures and the fabric is perfect for fussy cuts. A multi-functional gift ready for a game of eye spy as well as filling with goodies.   This bag is 7" square finished size not including the handles.  Wanna make one? read on.
You will need:
For the front and back- Fussycut eighteen 2" Squares 
Sashing strips for the front blocks- Cut two strips 1 3/4" x 5" and two strips 1 3/4"x 7 ½  from a light solid e.g. Essex linen
For the Straps- Cut two strip 3"x 8" from co-ordinating fabric
Lining-Cut two 7 1/2" squares from co-ordinating fabric
Fusible Fleece- Cut two 7 1/2"squares  e.g. Vilene 630 fleece interlining (supplied by Julia at Gone to Earth).  You could also use cotton batting or interfacing.
Letter stamps and Versa craft ink pad
Embroidery thread for the running stitch detail- I used Sashiko thread
Sewing supplies

Seams are 1/4" throughout.


Step 1: Making the Front and Back
Stitch your squares together in rows of 3. On the top and bottom row press the seams to the left and on  the centre row press seams to the right.


Join your  3 rows of squares matching up the points at the seams.

I stamp my sashing before I stitch it on.  I use Hero Arts Clear design rubber stamps and Versacraft ink.  This is heat set with an iron. Let the stamps dry for a few minutes, cover with a bit of scrap cotton and press for 15 seconds with a medium hot iron.  Remove the scrap cotton and repeat two more times and press on the reverse as well.  Then, add your sashing.


The rest of the bag follows the tutorial here from Step 2.   The only addition you will need to make is to add the running stitch detail.  I add this at the beginning of step 3, after I have added the fusible fleece but before I add the handles.  


Hadley did a lovely version of Ayumi's wristlet pattern with the same fabric and more fussy cut squares see here


 Thankyou Aneela, I think everyone was thrilled with their fabric parcel x

sib blog

24 comments:

  1. Oh, it's delightful! I can't bring myself to cut into my 'scraps' yet...it may take some time!

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  2. I have a twin leaning on me right now asking for one - so project No.2 for the super scraps may have been decided!

    Beautiful xxx

    (Thank you x)

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  3. This is gorgeous and a brilliant use of Aneela's fabrics!

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  4. very cute - there are some fun things appearing out of Aneela's scraps!

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  5. Your niece is going to love this! I am dying to try stamping on fabric but I'm having trouble Finding the Versacraft ink here in Ireland!

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  6. Oh that is gorgeous, she's going to love it!

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  7. Your niece will definitely love it! My little ones love carrying things around in little bags. It's the perfect gift and super adorable.

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  8. This is absolutely gorgeous and just the thing for what I need to do very soon. Thank you for posting it. I am a bear of very little brain lately and need all the inspiration I can get, LOL. Well done, love it.

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  9. Kerry - I am in love with this tote...How adorable! Thank you very much for a great tutorial. I have been wanting to try to use stamps with fabrics..and this is such a neat idea. :)

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  10. Fantastic- I have some fabrics that would be perfect for this!

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  11. This is darling! I love the vintage feel of the Red Riding Hood fabric, and your stamped border adds a personal touch that complements the fabric perfectly. I have never tried stamping on fabric for a quilt before. Can you tell me how your method for fabric stamping would stand up to frequent washing? I might like to add some stamped text to a quilt I'm working on for my son's bed, but it would be really disappointing if it gradually washed out -- and this quilt is going to see an awful lot of the inside of my washing machine!

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  12. Hi Rebecca, you have no email in your details so I thought I would reply here. I haven't frequently washed any Versacraft stamping. I have washed my daughter's quilt a couple of times and it is fine but i don't think any stamping or printing would take lots and lots of washes without fading. It also depends on detergents. You would need non bio and no brighteners in your washing product to protect against fading. Maybe sewing your message on would be more permanent?

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  13. so so so cute! Now I know what to do with the scraps Aneela gave me! And hopefully I can squeeze it in before Christmas.

    Rebecca - I have used stamping on bibs which are washed a LOT and the stamping has not significantly faded. It will over time but I suspect by then you will probably want to make a new quilt anyway!

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  14. My littlest was always piling random objects into her little bags - sweets, stones, long lost keys.... all in there!
    Hope your niece loves hers!!

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  15. oh this bag is sooo cute..and you know me.. I LOVE cute :0)

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  16. Thanks for sharing, I used the tutorial last week for a a quick gift!

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  17. your bag is sooooooo cute..
    i love it.. beautiful...

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  18. Very nice...i wanna try to make one of this bag....

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  19. Wonderful....i wanna try to make one of this bag...

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  20. I have a 18 month grand daughter that loves to carry around a small tote for all that she loves to carry. Looking forward to making her one like this.

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