my Solids-Only Tote

It's only Nov 8th, but I've already finished my Solids-Only Tote for the November Challenge!

front

back

inside - cellphone pocket and magnetic snap

I practiced some techniques and designs on scrap fabric before diving in and making the actual tote. At first I tried out some reverse applique on a piece of scrap fabric. My original idea was lots of different colors (solids) with this neutral background, arranged in squares or bricks.

This is how it looks from the wrong side:

Then I thought I could choose a more sophisticated design for the reverse applique on my tote. I chose this   Moroccan Inlay pattern:

[ source ]

I made a stencil out of this design, and couldn't help printing a bit of it on a piece of scrap fabric using fabric paint. Which reminds me, I really need to get more fabric paint colors :-)

Then I tried reverse applique-ing this pattern on a scrap piece of fabric:

At this point I realized I shouldn't be sewing on the lines of the design, because that makes the orange part of the design smaller (you cut out the fabric 1 mm or so inwards from your stitch). I realized I should sew outside the lines of the design, and cut on the lines of the design. I think that worked well on the tote itself :-)

reverse applique closeup on the finished tote

I bought this fabric for my challenge tote, but I ended up using only the sea-green lining. I will use this fabric for the next tote :-) The orange is a tad more yellowish in reality, and it was intended for the bag itself. The pale pink fabric was intended for the reverse applique design. The sea green fabric serves as the lining. Retro colors :-)

Total cost of fabric: 45 NIS ($12 US)

This is the reversible bag pattern I used to make my tote. The only alterations were an inner patch pocket for my cellphone, and a magnetic snap to close the bag.

[ source, including pattern and instructions ]

This is a bag I made in the past using this pattern - I use this bag every day.

bag I previously made using the above pattern [ source ]

So that's it! What do you think?

I'm planning on making another tote bag. I think I'll draft the pattern myself according to this bag that I have and use a lot:

gift from friends. SOHO

I'm thinking of using something along the lines of one of these designs for the reverse applique for the second tote:

floppy disk [ source ]

audio cassette - need to work on it to make it reverse-applique-able [ source ]

this or any other retro inspired image [ source ]

dots, in various color combos, big or small