WIP Wednesday: The Supertote Edition

Shall I provide you with an overview of my glamorous life these past two weeks? Yes? It goes something like this: nurse, burp, change poopy diaper, repeat ad nauseum. Getting anything done is difficult. Since I use our dining room table as my sewing space, I need to set up each time I want to sew and lately, setting everything up is all I'm able to get done before Fussy McFussypants wakes up and needs attention. All of this is to say it's pretty much a miracle that I managed to finish my Supertote in under two weeks!

If you haven't seen Anna Graham's Supertote pattern yet, click this link to check it out. I'll wait. Isn't it terrific? Since I decided to make it to use as a diaper bag, I reduced size of the pattern pieces to 85% so that it would fit easily under our stroller.

I wanted an understated bag so chose a grey and black houndtooth by Michael Miller, Lizzy House's Pearl Bracelets in black and the sketch print from Architextures in plum for the lining, plus a tiny bit of Dimples in burgundy.

I learned a few new techniques making this bag. First, I made my own piping, which is actually really easy to do. All you need is your zipper foot and some cord.

I also made a recessed zipper which was neat, although I made the zipper ends too short and as a result, it doesn't sit as well as it should (in the photo below the ends are tucked into the bag). I'll know better for next time.

My other modifications included using batting and quilting the straps to make them more comfortable on my shoulder and reinforcing the joins with extra stitching; including only one inside gathered pocket instead of two; and, adding a zippered inner pocket. I made the zippered pocket too far up and it gets hidden by the recessed zipper when the main zipper is open so that's also something I'll need to correct when making this pattern again.

I'm quite proud of having top-stitched the gussets. It was really tricky to do, because I used two layers of interfacing on the exterior pieces which made maneuvering the bag while stitching a real challenge (I used Sara's suggestion of first using Pellon Shape Flex and then Fusible Fleece on top).  I almost gave up, but Anna encouraged me after I posted a frustrated comment and this photo on Instagram, so I kept at it and I'm so glad I did because it makes the bag look that much more polished.

Here are a few more photos of the finished bag.

 Inside the bag where you can see the elasticized pocket:

The front pocket.

 Inside and all filled up with stuff already!

 In the wild, er, car :)

I would totally encourage you to buy and make your own Supertote. It's roomy, has lots of great features and is easy to customize to suit your personal preferences.

Round-up time!


On Deck 
One of the things I really want to do in the coming weeks is to reformat this blog. I don't like the background anymore; it's waaaay too busy! And I need to update my sidebar and add social media icons but am having trouble doing it. I need my husband's help.

Soother clips 
Applecheek elastic replacements - essential and priority!
Breastfeeding friendly top/dress for me  - bought some instead
Maxi skirt for me - fabric purchased
Slab for Calgary

In Progress

Tula Baby quilt
Farmer's Wife QAL blocks
3x6 plum chartreuse quilt - ready to be sashed
Lucky Stars BOM -April/May/June/July blocks

Hibernating projects

Curious Nature quilt - no progress

Sew Intertwined quilt -no progress

Flora Charm Quilt - no progress

Levi's Growth Chart - no progress

We Bee Learning Bee/Levi's Bed Quilt - No progress

In addition to linking up with Freshly Pieced and The Needle and Thread Network, this was my A Lovely Year of Finishes July goal so I'll be linking up there as well. Woohoo! Happy to have finished my goal after two months off.