The New Tote

I meant to have this post up over a week ago, but as those of you who read the Ao4 Digest know, my computer crashed. I had back-ups of next to nothing... so after one very valuable lesson learned, a lot of re-loading, re-building, and banging my head on the desk... I'm back. So about this new tote...

I decided to start making totes out of the tops of jeans and jean skirts. I've been using the lower parts for a long, long time, but the tops were just hanging around, taking up space, waiting for that perfect "something" to do with them. So... a tote! Pretty simple, but very strong. I couldn't figure out what to name it, and asked my hubby to brain-storm with me.

With all the "green" this and "green" that and "go green" and "blah blah blah green" ... am I the only one who's tired of hearing about it? Let's just do it and stop jamming it down my throat, you know? It reminds me of when I was asked to start keeping track of how many volunteer hours I was putting in so I could be "recognized". That's not what it's about for me! Stop it! Just let me do my thing! I love to re-purpose things. I always have. I mean, if you think about it, quilters have always recycled fabric.

Sorry. Obviously I still have a wee bit of hostility left over after the Computer Crash of '08. On to the tote. Jeans ... "green" ... I thought my husband hit on a winner with ... The Mr. Green Jeans Tote! LOL! Does anyone remember Mr. Green Jeans from the Captain Kangaroo Show? Ha! I love it! A great play on words. And so ... without further ado, here's the Mr. Green Jeans Tote:

This one is made from a skirt. It's fully lined with a bright, cheery sunflower fabric.

In keeping with our "green" theme, the fabric actually used to be my neighbor at Fort Riley's curtain, then when I moved into that house, she sold it to me. How green. Recycled denim and recycled curtains. OK... enough of that and back to the tote!

The skirt's front pockets are operational, so you can stick your keys, phone or whatever else in there. It had no back pocket, though, so I added one:

I lined it with the same sunflower fab. Cute, isn't it? And you can see the lining along the top of the bag, sticking out a bit for a fun accent, as well as around the pocket.

I tried a pair of jeans next.

As with the first Mr. Green Jeans Tote, the front pockets are fully operational. The jeans had great back pockets, too, which you can also use to hold your cool stuff.

Here's a detail shot of the pocket for you:

And here's a look inside the bag:

You can see that I let much more of the lining show in the front. It helps "square" the tote and is fun. :)

Speaking of FUN, I won a give-away! Caroline, over at Pink Lemonade Boutique, had a drawing to win some of her scraps! I was one of the lucky winners!

I sent part of the stack to a friend in Colorado who makes incredible scrap quilts for charity (I'd love to post pix of some of your quilts, Nancy!) and am going to have fun playing with the rest myself! Thanks, Caroline!!!

In the works right now... finishing up Michelle's Deeve, putting the latest Storm in the mail to a special someone, and seeing how another certain someone feels about the latest Huffle Duffel. I also did some fun bags for a friend; I lost the pictures I took (see first paragraph of this post) and am hoping she'll take some for me. Please?

More to come, soon! Thanks for reading,

KZK