241 tote

One of my best friends was 30 the other day, I'd had in my head that I wanted to attempt a bag for her as she loves handbags. I spent ages looking at fabric and patterns. I chose the 241 tote by noodlehead, then  struggled with fabric choice. I almost let her in on it and let her choose the fabric herself, but then I found some while in a local shop. Didn't stop me worrying if she would like it! 

Anyway, she loved it, so I can finally share some pictures. I'm so pleased with it, and absolutely loved making it. 

  

I added hidden magnets to make it close at the top, and really wanted to use two fabrics for the handle. As the bird print was directional, I did a join in the middle, so the birds were all the right way up! 

I bought 1/2 metre of the three main fabrics, and used almost all of the flowery one for the lining, but have some left of the other two.  Flo's Garden by Makower, is only available in-store in Hobbycraft, but I found it here, here and the collection here. The other two fabrics I used were Essex yarn dyed linen in flax, and Birch Organic Fabrics - Mod basics in Teal.  For the interfacing I used Vilene G700 for the pockets, to reinforce the  lining behind the inside pocket, for the hidden magnets and Vilene S13 was used in the handle.