Introducing the Loribelle Reversible Tote

This is my "how I made this" post about this bag. I'll be putting details about how you can order one in this style on my Loribelle Bags blog next week.

I LOVE this bag. This one is going to be mine to carry, to use as a sample, to "advertise" when I can, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse. Oh, sorry, my anniversary is this week also. I got confused. I saw the fabric at Hobby Lobby & had to have it (with a 40% off coupon, of course). It was in the Fall section, so it's not one they keep all year. I'm hoping it will be a big seller & they will add it to their regular stock. I didn't have this bag in mind when I got the fabric. I didn't plan to keep a bag made of this. This was one I thought would sell well. I wasn't sure what style I would make, but it wasn't this. Then I saw it some more at home. I decided I really liked this.

The other main fabric was some I'd used on the Emily Anne bags as a contrast. I bought extra because I REALLY liked it, too. When I went to JoAnn's on Saturday to buy contrast for this purple, I found the turquoise with lime green and purple! What are the "odds" of that! I didn't know I'd be using the turquoise/green print, but when I put the contrast up to that I knew I had to make a reversible bag with the contrast pulling both fabrics together.

The main shape of this one was from a store bought pattern. From there, I altered just about everything. The turquoise/green is a pretty basic tote style with straight slip pockets. Since the slip pockets are so large, I decided to add the little pockets on top of the big pockets for things like my cell phone or business cards.

The purple side has a style all its own. I had seen wrap around and side pockets on several purses and patterns. I just hadn't tried them yet. I decided a curved wrap around would be really cute (I'd seen that on other bags) with the curve of the top. As you can see in the picture with the cup, it's a really big pocket. My main idea was for it to be a water bottle space. You might remember my very first bag. Or maybe it was so bad I didn't post it. I attempted to put a cell phone pocket and a water bottle pocket on a hobo bag. Let's just say UGLY doesn't begin to describe that bag (I need to dig that out & cut it apart to make a clutch or something!). I LOVE the pockets on this bag.

Now that I've made this I really feel like I can design any bag. I still want to make the Ultimate Diaper bag and I know I will be using an idea like the wrap around pocket for bottle pockets. A mom of twins said she would love a bag that has spaces for more than one bottle. I'm keeping that in mind.

I have a top I'm hoping to get done by tomorrow, so will post that when it's done.

I STILL have a big blog candy idea for my Loribelle Bags. I have about 7 bags or so cut out waiting to be assembled. I want to finish those, get them on my Etsy shop, then post the Blog Candy. Just by sending people to my site you'll get to be part of the blog candy! I'll offer goodies for crafters and purse lovers. Maybe even fabric lovers!

Thanks for stopping by.