Re-use promotional tote bags

by Linda Theil

When I saw the brilliant logo of a new local bakery, I knew I wanted to use it to make a charming bag, so I bought one of their promotional tote bags to deconstruct.

I unpicked the entire bag because I didn't know how much, if any, of the tote fabric I would want to use in my reconstruction, and I hadn't, yet, chosen a pattern for the re-build. The logo presented something of a challenge because of its six-by eight-inch vertical orientation. I could have cropped the logo to make it more square, but then I would have lost some of the unique content that makes the logo so distinctive and interesting.

I knew Noodlehead's "Sandhill Sling" had a vertical orientation, so I checked the pattern pieces to see if the logo would work with that design. The sling had only one pattern piece that would work with a feature fabric: the 8-inch wide, by 9.5-inch tall zippered pocket bottom on the front of the sling. There are many ways to make a feature-fabric work with any pattern you might choose, but this seemed a made-to-measure fit!

I had enough of the tote fabric to cut all of the exterior pieces for the sling, except for one of the two Main Panel pieces. Since the front main panel is completely hidden on the exterior by the front zippered pocket, I used my lining fabric for that main panel.

For the lining, sling strap, and binding, I chose three prints from the "Rust & Bloom" cotton collection by Sarah Sczepanski for Free Spirit Fabrics. I needed a fabric for binding because I chose the alternate, binding option for construction of the "Sandhill Sling". I had to pick three different fabrics because I was working with a fat-quarter selection of fabrics.

I also eliminated the swivel clip from the construction; and, instead, sewed the bottom-end of the strap directly onto the rectangle ring at the bottom of the bag. The strap is still adjustable, but you cannot unhook it from the bottom of the sling. Although the swivel clip is stylish, pretty, and probably of some utility; because the strap is bound into the shoulder connector at the top of the bag, there's not a lot of use for the swivel clip since the strap is not removable from the bag. Also, it was easier for me to find a rectangle ring and a tri-glide to match each other and the bag, than to assemble the necessary items including a swivel clip. Plus, I wanted to investigate that option to see if it would prove useful for future bags.

The finished sling is 7 x 11 x 3- inches.

Resources

"Noodlehead's Sandhill Sling" on AppletonDance blog, https://appletondance.blogspot.com/2023/03/noodleheads-sandhill-sling.html

Noodlehead "Sandhill Sling" pattern, https://noodle-head.com/products/sandhill-sling-pdf-pattern

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