Trying something new!
Say hello to my Big Boat Tote! And as the name would suggest – it’s very big! I think it’s probably one of the largest tote bags I’ve ever made, and I’ve made quite a few. Originally the Big Boat Tote started out as a project for my Sewing Circle group to tackle. But in the end we had to finish this separately. I’m quite glad with how mine turned out but the project was more difficult than I thought it would be.
The Big Boat Tote is a free tutorial by Purl Soho. It’s very important to keep this in mind. Most designers will spend more time working of their paid for patterns (completely fair enough). I’ve made a few Purl Soho tutorials in the past; like their Railroad Tote and Wool Wrist Warmers. And I have always found them quite easy to follow. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case with the Big Boat Tote. Now most of that is down to user error, but I also found this particular tutorial to be a bit heavy on written instructions. It seemed to have less pictures compared to other tutorials by Purl Soho. This does make the tutorial slightly harder to follow than others I’ve tried.
The other things that made the Big Boat Tote harder than expected was completely my fault. Part of the reason I struggled to get this bag made was due to the materials I used. Instead of trying to match my materials as much as possible to those used by the designer, I decided to use neoprene scuba. This made construction of the bag so much more difficult than it needed to be. I was constantly fighting with the fabric the whole way through. Not only that but you can’t iron neoprene in the way you can canvas fabric. And to add to this is the fact that the neoprene was too thick for the width of twill tape used in the pattern. This meant that I had to modify the construction of the bag to work around this issue.
You might be wondering why I decided to use neoprene for my Big Boat Tote? Well I’ve been wanting to try out neoprene for a while. It’s not a fabric I’ve used before – mainly because I haven’t come across any bags that have recommend it. Now I know why. It’s just a tricky fabric to work with, made harder by the fact that it’s bouncy and thick. So with that in mind I thought it would be best to use it with an easy tote pattern. But the Big Boat Tote isn’t the easiest tutorial to follow and the construction of the bag is rather different to most others. But in the end I was quite happy with the results.
Since I did have to modify the construction, this bag took longer than expected to make. This was the main reason that Kelly and I decided to finish the project on our own. I have to say I’m very impressed at how well Kelly did on her own! Even with the slight difficulties reading the pattern, she was able to finish the project off all by herself. I just love Kelly’s Big Boat Tote – she did much better justice to the pattern compared to mine. And I know Kelly love’s how big her bag is – now she can fit all the family’s beach towels in one bag!
I feel like I’ve learnt a lot from making my Big Boat Tote. In particular how important it can be to stick to the designers recommended fabric options. I also feel like I’ve learnt a few important lessons when it comes to working with neoprene scuba. Like the fact that you get much better results with a walking foot. I don’t think it will be the last time I use it to make a bag. And in the end I am quite happy with how my Big Boat Tote turned out. It’s big, bold and has plenty of style!
