by Linda Theil
I have a maker friend who will only create utilitariean items; she crochets exquisite wash cloths, dish cloths, scrubbies, and rag rugs. Although she is an esthete, she is a utilitarian esthete who eschews profligacy and will not agree to own any more handmade bags from her profligate friend, lest she tromp too heavily upon the earth.
Well! I can't stand it any longer! I have made her a big bag! A "Maker's Tote" by Noodlehead -- a roomy carry-all in the shape of a doctor's bag. The bag was featured recently on the Noodlehead makers' FaceBook page, and I bought the pattern on sight because I had never made a tote of this type. The pattern features two sizes; I made the larger one that finished at approximately 15 x 12 x 7-inches.
The pattern is an older design released in 2015. There are no pattern pieces, just a well-organized list of cuts. The directions are clear but are illustrated with line drawings instead of the photographs that are standard with high quality designers currently. Also, there is no sew-along video as is typical with modern presentations, although a highlight reel of technical points is helpful and well-done.
In any case I had a few problems with the pattern: the directions called for cutting the outer and lining out of two pieces of fabric each, and then sewing them together. While this would be useful for one-way fabrics, I didn't see the point in not cutting the outer and the lining each in one piece. In any case, these big pattern pieces have the benefit of being big enough to highlight quilt blocks, or feature fabric.
I had some difficulty fitting the side gussets in the desired placement and ended up cutting my gussets down in order to make them fit where indicated. This may be user error.
Also the directions say to clip the edges of the gussets where they curve around the bottom of the bag, but you need to clip the bag edges, not the gussets because you have to clip the curve, and in this make, the curve is on the gusset and the bag is straight so the bag edges need to be released, not the gusset. Normally, the gusset is straight and the bag is curved, so ordinarily you clip the gusset, not the bag; but in this design you have to clip the bag.
The side gussets have a little pin-tuck at the top center of the gusset and I couldn't figure out what on earth it was for until Alisa said she though it would allow the side gussets to fold easily inside the bag when the zipper is closed. She's so clever!
In addition, I applied the exterior binding to the outside edges of the bag while it was flat and before installing the gussets because I find this an easy and useful way to eliminate some time in binding. If you do this, you have to be careful not to catch the binding when installing the zipper after sewing in the gussets, but this is easy to do if you leave the very ends of the zipper tape free and catch them into the seam when you fold over the binding.
This bag represented a lot of firsts for me. In addition to those new-to-me side gussets, I'd never installed a zipper with binding strips as done here. The pattern suggested using a separating zipper, and since I had one that is probably forty-years-old in my zipper bin, I gave it a whirl. Since it is metal, I couldn't cut it, so it is a tad long for this tote; but it serves the purpose of allowing the user complete access to the interior. Also, if you separate the zipper completely, you can tuck the ends inside and use the bag as an open tote.
The Noodlehead "Maker's Tote" pattern features an exterior patch-pocket, an exterior zippered-pocket, an interior zippered-pocket, and an interior bellowed-pocket. But, in keeping with my minimalist approach to this bag in deference to my friend's esthetic, I eliminated all those pockets and simply made an interior, segmented, slip-pocket for do-dads.
I considered adding a hard bottom insert, but decided a five-by-fifteen inch quilter's ruler would make a perfectly adequate hard bottom and could be used to measure stuff if needed.
Except for the interfacing and fusible fleece used to quilt the exterior, every item in the bag came from my scrap bin, including the scrappy quilt blocks I had made previously. I don't remember where I found the pattern, but it is similar to the "Country Roads" pattern shown on the Missouri Star YouTube channel.
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