Yes, Another 241 Tote.

Maybe I should rename this blog Hot Pink 241 Totes? Because I sure do make a lot of them! But I think you're right--it doesn't quite roll off the tongue the way Hot Pink Quilts does, so we'll stick with HPQ, and eventually maybe one of these days I'll get around to photographing the quilt-in-progress I'm working on. Maybe one of these days I'll actually get it done! But until then--241 Tote time!

I honestly don't know what number 241 tote this is for me. Eight? Nine? TEN? Suffice to say, I've made a ton of them. This time, I'm making a commissioned one. And if I'm going to make a commissioned tote, you'd best be believing it's going to rock and be exactly what that person is looking for in their heart of hearts.

We started with choosing a canvas for the exterior body of the bag. I love this print from Tokyo Train Ride. (We'd also considered a Melody Miller canvas and a few others, but we came back to this one, and I'm so glad we did. It's been magical watching it form.) I used fusible fleece interfacing, so this bag is good and solid.

I got the exterior mostly put together, went to insert the zipper, and face palmed as I had FORGOTTEN to buy a zipper. Bravo, Audrey! A few days later, I rectified that mistake. The super thick nature of the canvas + fusible fleece made it difficult to insert the zipper cleanly, so I did my best.

The interior (not pictured) came together without complication, including the pen pocket I added. I pressed fabric for the handle, choosing to fussy cut (ish) the mountains thinking they looked pretty bomb. But on the reverse of the mountains, quite by accident, there is this SUPER CUTE line of bunnies. Now, you'll be able to see both sides of the handle, but one side will be prominent, and choosing one which side to face out was hard! I took to instagram (thank you, friends for your input!) and chatted with my friend who commissioned the tote, and we made a decision, but I think I'm gonna have y'all wait until the end to see what we chose!

And when I went to finish up the adjustable strap--I use this tutorial, though I did modify it this go around, more details in the finish post--I realized I ALSO had neglected to buy a slide adjuster. Rather, I had one on hand, but I hadn't considered that it's 1" wide when I need one that is 1.5" wide. Finding one has been an awful pain, and I finally thought to check etsy, and sure enough, there were like fifty million listings.

When that slide adjuster arrives, this bag should come together in twenty (or so) minutes, and I am SO eager to have it done because it already looks pretty smart, so don't you think it'll look even better when complete?