Deadstock fabric Sierra totes
I’ve made the Sierra tote from Indigobird sewing patterns, so many times now. Once for me but mostly as gifts. It’s the perfect sewing project to give as a gift - great for using up remnants, easy to customise to the colour choices of your intended and useful for so many people. You can batch-sew it with ease, thus easing the stress of Christmas. I’ve given one to my Gran, who uses it for the pens, notepads and doodads that live by her landline. My Mum uses hers for tools in her pottery studio, as does my sister-in-law, who is also a potter but needs to transport her kit to and from a local class.
This black silk version I made for a friend, who kindly gifted me a large amount of vintage Japanese silk and reclaimed kimono fabric. I wanted to make her something to say thank you, so used some of her own fabric to make a project bag. She’s also a knitter, so the internal pockets are very useful for scissors, needles and stitch markers.
This tweed version was for my work secret santa. The blue herringbone wool was reclaimed from a charity shop bag and the sheep print cotton lining was from Katie Green on Etsy. The brown vinyl was a remnant from the old Craft & Thrift shop, back when I sold secondhand fabric. I kept hold of some of the remnants and roll-ends I thought would be useful in my own practice. This leatherette vinyl has been used for many handles and bag bases. It’s a pain to work with, hard to press without melting, but it does produce a substantial handle without too much strain on my machine.
The Craft & Thrift logo is embossed on scrap leather and made by Jenerates. I love them, they look so smart and really elevate a Christmas gift. It’s definitely worth buying or making your own labels I think, if your budget can stretch. I sew them onto most things I make for myself now, I feel like I’m branding my own wardrobe, it’s very satisfying.
This last of my most recent (but not last!) batch was for my sister-in-law. It’s made with a combo of remnant vinyl, the blue version of the brown above, and sailcloth from my grandparents old boat. This bathtub of a vessel was a real feature of my childhood memories of my grandparents, messing on at the harbour with my brother whilst the adults ‘sorted stuff’ on the boat. It was always broken in one way or another, meaning we rarely sailed on it, but we enjoyed the salty air and the sunshine whilst munching bacon sandwiches and watching the jellyfish. It was sold a few years ago but my Gran kept some sails and I’ve sewn Sierra totes from it for her, my Mum and now my sister-in-law. I just need to make one for me now, so Scarecrow can live on as a knitting project bag.