Finished: Alice in a Pink Wonderland Tote

I had actually made this on Tuesday when Brett had a late start at work and I woke up earlier than usual to get some sewing time in, but it's only now that I got around to taking photos. I'm addicted to making tote bags now! They have become my most favorite thing to sew! The newest one to add to my soon-to-be-growing collection is this darling Alice in Wonderland Japanese fabric on a pink background, which I think looks very Harajuku-esque. I used the pink canvas that I had dyed last month for the body of the tote unstead of the natural color canvas. Unlike the apples and pears design, I had to use a bigger piece of fabric for this tote. The size of the pattern and the repeat doesn't really allow for smaller samples, so I decided to just cover the entire front of the tote with the Alice fabric. I don't know if I'll ever do that again, unless the contrasting fabric is a solid color or close to it. I really didn't like how "messy" it looked at the top when I had to topstitch the opening and secure the straps. To me, the stitching is way too noticeable and way too much in general to do on a print like this. I didn't take a photo of the topstitching, I really didn't want to show the "mess". According to Brett you can't tell, he thinks I'm just being overly picky. He's probably right, but I still won't take a photo of that part!

On the brighter side, I figured out an easier, faster, and cleaner way of doing the topstitching and sewing the strap ends down. By the time I got to the last strap end I no longer needed to refer to the stitching diagram that I had sketched out on a Post-it that's stuck to the wall in front of my sewing machine. I'm a dork, I know. But hey, it saves me time from having to remember which direction to sew to first!

I never did re-dye the fabric. The original plan was to sew the project that I had in mind for this fabric and then re-dye it (the dyeing fiasco is still fresh in my mind!). But after cutting out the tote pieces I took a second look and decided that I quite liked the mottled look the botched dye job had done. So I kept it as is for this tote. Even though this canvas is the same weight as the canvas that I had used for the Apples & Pears tote, the dye had broken down the fibers a bit and had made it thinner and less rigid. Which made my serger very happy. I also got the chance to use those cones of hot pink serger thread that I had bought at Dressew a while back. So yummy!

I used the brown polypro webbing again, rather than the black that I also have on hand, in copious amounts. The black was too bold and harsh against the Alice print, and the brown just happened to compliment it. I think it's cause there's a lot of brown within the print already.

I can't wait to use this bag now! I think I should take the wee one out for a walk and do some shopping...make that window shopping...