Mission Accomplished! Tote part 2

The wait is finally over... I know, many have been waiting anxiously to see how my first major sewing project turned out (I say major because my first project was to applique a letter A on one of Ava's onesies.  I need more practice!).  As for the tote?  It turned out pretty cute, as long as you don't mind some huge flaws :)

                                                                 

And my inside:

The last time I posted about this bag, (you can get full instructions HERE) I had left off with sewing the outside pieces together after ironing interfacing on them.  It took me all night, so you can imagine how long this whole project took me.  After getting the outside sewn together, it was time to box my corners.  Deciphering the instructions was like learning to speak Aramaic.  What seams was I supposed to line up? Where? Wait. What am I doing?!

Oh.. I am supposed to line the seams up on the inside of the bag, so that when I box the corners, my seam will be straight and match up.  And measure up the sides! We want an isosceles triangle! (I love disappearing ink).  Sew along the purple line...

And cut off the excess...

Now you are here:

You can see I didn't line my seams up perfectly... but that is ok by me.  You iron on interfacing, and sew together your lining pieces the same way you did the outside.   You also box the lining's corners... so when you have all that complete, you are here.

I added a pocket by sewing 2 pieces of fabric together, wrong sides together, and leaving a hole to turn it inside out.  I sewed it to the lining BEFORE I sewed the linings together and boxed the corners.

Next I made my bow and straps.  My bow was Bow 1, and was 6 X 12 inches.  The center of the bow was 6 X 2.5 inches.  I confess I picked this bow because I didn't want to deal with interfacing again, and it was one less piece to cut.  I think the straighter bow is cuter.  My straps were 2 X 22 inches, just because of how much fabric I had left.  I sewed along the edges and turned inside out for the straps too.

My other confession... I couldn't figure out how to sew my bow on with my machine.  So I used fabric glue to glue it on.  What? All the major designers glue their handbags together.

Finally, turning the edges under at the top in order to sew the lining and outside together was hard!  I had a hard time keeping the straps where I wanted them despite all my pinning.  I also accidentally made like 4 strap loops, because I sewed it down in a few places.  That was why last time I knew the seam ripper and I would be buds.

Things I learned:

Brown thread would have hidden my mistakes more.

I didn't leave enough room for the snaps to fit above my pocket.

I stink at lining stuff up.

Pins hurt when they stick you.

I wonder if it would work better for a beginner to somehow sew the lining and outside together before boxing corners?  I am going to try to figure out when I try this tote again.

Enough craftiness for now... thanks for reading!