Sewing a Market Bag

I'm so excited to show you the dress that I'm working on. It's a vintage pattern and really just a simple tunic style. I found some cool (very inexpensive) fabric that looks vintage. It's also the first time that I put in a zipper. This is monumental!

When I was a kid, I remember my mother and her mother, both accomplished seamstresses, discussing a project they were working on. At some point in the conversation, their voices would dip low. Of course, that always made me listen harder.

"And then, of course, there's the zipper," one would whisper to the other, a tinge of horror lacing her voice.

Needless to say, I've lived in fear of putting a zipper in anything since then. I've made tote bags, purses, dresses, shirts and more. I always look at the pattern first to see how the item closes. A zipper or buttons? Back into the pattern drawer of the fabric store it goes.

Today though, I want to show you something else I completed. This is a basic shopper bag, I'm calling it a Market Tote.

"Take me to the farmers' market!"

Can't you just see it filled to the brim with fresh veggies at the local farmers' market? Or stuffed with books ready to return to the library? I always wish I remembered to bring a cloth bag with me when I'm in stores other than the grocery. Like when I "just run in" to the drugstore, and emerge with a sack full of things I'd forgotten we needed.

This Market Tote measures about 28" long and square. I made it from some leftover fabric from a chair upholstery project and lined it with a pretty hounds tooth I picked up at a thrift shop. The straps are extremely sturdy and the whole bag is light but hardworking.

Do you think it needs embellishment? I was thinking of adding a vintage button or two, or possibly one of my fabric roses.