How did I miss this one?
With December starting, you are probably all like me at the moment. Either working on handmade Christmas gifts or madly searching the stores and online for presents. It’s certainly a busy time of year. I’m also keenly aware that some of you may be trying to do all of this whilst dealing with lockdowns and restrictions. So I want to send you all my love and support in these hard times!
Because I’ve been spending most of my time sewing gifts – none of which I can show you until next year – I don’t have any newly finished projects at the moment. I do have several that are currently in progress but probably won’t be finished before the new year. I’ve been keeping my facebook page updated with those. So I thought maybe I should revisit an old project that missed the blog the first time around. The big standout is my Hillside Tote by Noodlehead.
I originally finished my Hillside Tote at the very beginning of the year. It seems quite surreal even thinking about the start of 2020. So much has happened this year. But at the start of the year I was going on a Cruise with my parents and I managed to get my Hillside Tote finished just in time! I always love to take new bags away with me on holidays. It just makes the holiday feel so much more special. I’ve already told you all about the Denver backpack and Heidi Clutch which I also made for the cruise. So, when Noodlehead released the Hillside Tote a few months before my holiday I just knew I needed to make one for my travel handbag.
The Hillside Tote is a crossbody bag pattern that comes in two different sizes, a regular and mini. It’s always great to have different size options because it’s just so personal how much you like to carry around. I always like to have a bag large enough to fit my iPad in it, so I decided to make the regular size. And since I was planning to use it as my main travel handbag I knew I would have to fit quite a bit into it.
The construction of this bag is pretty straightforward as it is mainly made up of various rectangle fabric pieces. It would probably be a good project for the advanced beginner to bag making. I think if you have some knowledge and confidence you would be able to tackle this bag and learn some new skills along the way. As usual Anna has included detailed pictures and instructions to help you through the pattern.
Now I know you are all dying to know what fabric’s I used for my Hillside? The exterior features a fabric that I really love called ‘Prince of Wales Check’. It’s a fairly lightweight dry oilskin that I purchased from Merchant and Mills. It’s a lightweight but very durable fabric and it’s absolutely my favourite type of fabric at the moment. So lovely to sew with. The other exterior fabric is waxed canvas fabric in Navy from fabric.com. To round it all up I used a burgundy leather strap that I got from buckleguy.com.
There’s not really much else to tell you other than I love this bag! I know I say that about all my bags but it’s true. The Hillside Tote was the perfect travel champion. It has lots of pockets (also love!), which makes it great for organising all your bits and pieces. The main area keeps all of your things safe with a zip but you also have exterior pockets for things you need easy access to. I highly recommend making this bag because I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!
