Goin' Uptown Tote by Two Pretty Poppets
/I love being able to create a one of a kind bag that works for all my needs! Today Erica reviews the Goin' Uptown Tote by Two Pretty Poppets. Check out her take on it and let us know what fabrics you would use!
Hi, it’s Erica again from Lollipops & Paisley. I’m here today to discuss my FIRST EVER (GASP!) handbag sew. I was honored to design my own Goin’ Uptown Tote from Two Pretty Poppets. And yes, I totally played Mark Ronson’s Uptown Funk over and over in my head while I worked on this! (It’s stuck in your head now, right?)
So I see all these lovely handbags and keep thinking “I could totally make one of those!” Now I know I can! I chose the gorgeous Art Gallery Fabrics Skopelos for my main fabric. I love these colors! I chose the front outer pockets and then no pockets for the inside since I never use the ones on my current purse. The pattern includes several options for zippered pockets both inside and out. Be sure to read through and decide which options you want so that you’re not cutting extra pieces (yeah…).
Let’s talk time. I’m not going to lie, this bag has some tedious details that take both time and patience. From cut to finish, including time at the iron fusing all those layers of stabilizer, I put 10 hours into this bag. I’m so glad that I love it! So if you’re going to make one, choose fabrics you know you will love and make it worth your time!
My favorite detail is the recessed zipper. I’ve never done anything like this with a zipper. It really pushed my abilities and forced me to learn something new! I think it turned out cute! But with all the zipper and piping details, this pattern is really for intermediate level and up. I consider myself somewhere between intermediate and advanced and still found that it was a challenge. But don’t let that scare you away from the Goin’ Uptown Tote (now I”ve got Uptown Funk in my head again!) pattern or any of the other bag patterns Two Pretty Poppets offers.
