A Year's Break.....and yet another Professional Tote!

I'm back! I know I took a break for a year but I'm back and going to try to be more regular on posting my projects and also posting reviews on patternreview.com.  The reasons I left for so long, first I got engaged, then married, then honeymoon, then new job....it was all so crazy and blogging fell by the wayside!  I had a Halloween themed wedding on October 29, 2011 and it was incredible! I will post pictures periodically of things we did because it was sooo hard to find Halloween wedding resources and ideas. So if mine can help someone, that is great!

 Anyone who has read my blog from before knows my love of the Professional Tote (see here, here, and here) and I had already made two! Well I made a third last year for my brother to give to his girlfriend on Valentines Day. This one was my favorite of them all.

front

back

I used notions from the Creative Thimble's website (the designer of the pattern) for this bag. I also used her purse feet which work extremely well for this pattern seeing as it is a travel bag and is frequently set on the ground. I also used her cording in lime green, the cord stops in lime green, and the special zipper. This zipper is far more heavy duty and works much better to close up the top of the bag.

heavy duty zipper and decorative stitching

I also used decorative stitching on many of the pieces to add a bit more pizazz!  (As though the fabric was not pizazzy enough already!)

inside view

Everyone who I have made this bag for (myself, mother, and brother's girlfriend) have loved it to death and we use it every time we travel. Or for me, I use it when I go to shows as well to carry all my purchases!  As an update on the one I made well over a year ago--I still use it all the time and it has held up well. No problems whatsoever. Oh wait I lied. There is one problem. I did my embroidery on the front of mine with my initials. Only problem is, I since got married and now have new initials! Guess I have to make another one...... :)

On the next one I make, I intend to try to use this new product instead of the regular Decorbond interfacing. It is called Soft and Stable and I think will alleviate the problem of the fabric separating from the fusible decor bond around the top. (It is hardly noticeable but if I am making another...I may as well try to improve!)

I will also be posting a tutorial soon on how I do the hang ties on the zippers of all my bags so stay tuned!

You can see my review of this pattern here.