Tie-front Totes

I recently wrapped up two new tote bags (which was a feat in itself, considering I'm a bag-o-phobe!) I was overdue on a homemade Christmas gift for my sister-in-law, so tackling a new bag project seemed the perfect fit.

Rather than following a traditional paper pattern, I made the bags by taking an e-course from Trish Preston, in which she steps through the construction of her original Tie-front Tote pattern. Trish hosts her e-courses on her Two Peas in a Pod site.

For the first bag -- the one that went to my sister-in-law -- I chose two of my favorite prints from Tula Pink's Parisville line:

And for the second, another two favorite prints -- this time, from Amy Butler's Love line:

Trish's e-course was fantastic and I really can't recommend it enough, especially for beginners and fellow bag-o-phobes like myself. You can read more about my experience taking the course -- as well as enter to win a free enrollment -- over on the Fat Quarterly blog.