Sewing: Purl Soho Patterns

Purl Soho has some fabulous free patterns, they are a go-to for modern, simple and classy patterns and they have impeccable fabric taste. This is my first Everyday Tote, there will be more...  It is a great size and I love all the seams enclosed in bias binding - so neat.  My bias was a garage sale find and quite stiff - I wished I had changed my needle as the stitching got pretty rough which shows on the chambray.  

We use the tote mostly for a library bag and my school pick up bag complete with snacks and plenty of room to fit book bags, notes and craft etc! The only criticism is the pocket is too high and probably not deep enough for my liking - it also flaps about. Next time I'll sew a pocket on the bottom half of the bag. While I love the bias inside, I'll probably just insert a lining next time for a quicker sew!  I also used a Noodlehead trick for the handles as I had no webbing on hand.  Instead of folding in half again as Anna would I added the bias for contrast and strength and I ran out of fabric and didn't want thin handles.

These are lovely mitered napkins which I made from hand printed Thea & Sami fabric I've had for ages... I wished I'd sewn them sooner, I love using them and sewing through my stash.