The first part of my project was a Hexagon Tote Bag.
I started with a charm pack of Coquette by Moda, a couple of coordinating fat quarters, a package of one inch paper pieces and no particular plan in mind.
A little bit of enjoyable sewing time in the evenings eventually resulted in this pretty piece of patchwork:
I decided to turn it into a totebag, and I found a wonderful online tutorial for a lunchbag from Ayumi at Pink Penquin . What I love about Ayumi's tote is that the bag has an inner liner with a drawstring that gives a little extra room, and a little extra security to the items inside.
I added a little bling with some beads to the drawstrings just for fun:
When picking coordinating fabrics for the totebag, I came across a cute little girlie print that was the perfect size for fussy cutting and making hexagons. Aren't these just the cutest?
I wanted to use these little charmers in my project, but did not want to look like I borrowed the bag from a young girl, so I used them to make a matching change purse instead:
The pattern for the change purse was another tutorial I found online from Anna Graham of Noodlehead designs. It's great that the zipper extends beyond the width of the purse so that the purse can really open wide.
I wanted to share a little bit about how I went from hexie patchwork to finished tote. There are a lot of wonderful online tutorials about how to do English paper piecing, but most end with creating the patchwork. I was afraid the whipstitched seams might come apart if I tried to cut it, but...
I needed two pieces for the front and back of the tote, so, with great trepidation, I cut it in half!
I took one half, laid it on a piece of batting, and machine quilted it:
I cut sashing strips, and sewed them on two sides, right through the batting.
Then I cut off the excess hexagon halves, and pressed the sashing strips open.
You can see in the photo above, that not much was wasted of the hand pieced hexagons. I did the same thing to add sashing on the top and the bottom, and then I treated it just like any other piece of fabric. This piece went on the front of the tote, and I did the same to the other piece for the back.
I'm so glad I joined the Hexie Queen blog hop. It gave me the motivation to get the project finished and now I have a great little bag for lunchtime or anytime.
Please be sure to visit the other bloggers who are sharing their hexie projects today: