So, I like many other’s I am sure have been inspired by the Great British Sewing Bee. Now that my sewing machine is fixed again (this is the 4th time in two years I have had to send it off!!) I felt that I could actually do some sewing and I wouldn’t have to worry about thread snapping and the tension being off, no matter what I did. So problem fixed I decided to put my sewing machine through it’s paces to make sure that it really was working properly again and I had so much fun!!

I have been thinking about making myself a tote bag for a while as I have some lovely Alexander Henry moustache fabric that I adore and I wasn’t sure what to make with it. When doing my weekly shop I saw someone with a similar fabric tote bag, and was instantly won over by the idea.

I decided I wanted to make it quite a substantial one and it kind of morphed into something more than a tote bag… I had some spare leather that I hadn’t got around to using so decided to use that as a base as the fabric itself it quite thin, and I didn’t want holes to form in my lovely new bag!! I vaguely remembered seeing someone else use a leather bottom to a bag and they had cut it into a plus shape so I decided I would do the same. After decided how big I wanted the bag I cut out all my pieces and began to sew making it up as I went along…