SEWING BY HAND

 Yes, I am sewing by hand... the last of my backup sewing machines went kapukkk... (they are over 25 years old)..well, I sew everyday... so I figure they more than earn their keep with the facemasks and my regular sewing... so

here is what I am doing right now...

I did the front and quilted it and the back and the lining .... put everything together with the sewing machine,... got to the D rings and the top band... and was playing with the handles and jam...

I pulled on the thread that was in the hook (bobbin case holder) and pulled everything out of alignment.. so now it won't sew...  I am trying to finish this up because I LOVE it!  

The tweed fabric is neoprene.  I was going to originally use it alone to make the tote, but as usual, my mind went wild in the fabric store... so I found this faux leather that looked braided and I love it for totes... so I lite heatnbonded the quilt lady to the neoprene and then overcast the edges of her and freemotion quilted her to the front of the neoprene...  then I overcast the neoprene to the faux leather and free motion quilted the neoprene all around the quilt lady.... then I sliced the quilt lady top with an art knife and made a pocket out of her...I then put a piece of solid black faux leather as trim at the top edges of the quilt lady pocket... see next pic...

Before Quilting

After Quilting

and

 Making Pocket on Front out of Quilt Lady

Now you have a tote with no handle or strap.

This one I added a tab with two D rings on each side for a shoulder strap... The tote handles were mad by folding a strip inward to give it quad strength and leaving the bottom open to fold under and attach to the tote.

I made a wide soft strap to slip through the D rings and then I can use the shoulder strap when I fill it up and use the tote handles to take some weight off the shoulder.

After handles and D Ring Strap

DONE!