Trail Tote...

I downloaded the free Noodlehead pattern a long time ago, and have thought about making one, many, many times but always moved on to other things when faced with the inset zipper, piping and strap arrangement. My hopes for a quick and easy sewing fix always turned into a bit of a more complex task, well in my head.

But I was wrong.  I made this yesterday, using some lovely Mixology linen from Simply Solids as a starter.  I didn't have everything I needed in the house, but a quick trip into the village was a bit of a success despite the thunderstorm going on.

I got a 7" navy metal zip in the bit-of-everything/load-of-noting store, some brilliant cotton webbing and cream cotton bias binding in the sewing shop and a nasty plastic satchel in the charity shop which, for £4, had the buckle and other hardware I needed.

I LOVE how it turned out!

The piping was no real drama, I have made and sewn it before, but not on a curve; I used my walking foot and it worked fine.  The inset zip was pretty straight forward too - I cut a window in the interfacing before applying, so there wasn't too much bulk when turning through, and rather than going with my initial slack-Alice thoughts of simply sewing on the webbing, I went all fancy!

OK, so when I cut up the satchel it might have been wiser to have had a good look at how the buckle arrangement had been,  but I sussed it.  Although I know I will never adjust the length, I added 3 eyelet holes just in case!

I lined it with some Cotton & Steel with a little C&S pocket.  I used a sew-in magnet fastening, the others I have are so strong, they tend to just unbend the prongs rather than separate on other bags I have made!

I frankensteined the outer pocket lining, you cannot see the cream (Bone?) Kona on the zip side, just the Aloe, but it does the job and made me feel virtuous for using some scraps!

I have learnt my lesson and top-stitched about 1/2" from the top edge to avoid the seam allowance and bulk which make my stitches go wonky; it looks way neater being that little bit lower down, using my new favourite Aurifil 40wt 2310.

All in all it turned out so well, the pattern was of the usually brilliant and clear Anna-Noodlehead standard and I am glad that I didn't go for the easy option; I really want to make the large version now!