Expandable pack and tote

 

I came across this tote bag pattern about 2 years ago from Amy Gibson's blog Stitchery Dickory Dock. You can follow Amy's blog HERE I very quickly realized how great this tote bag looked and loved the size and pockets and everything about this tote. It's called the expandable pack and tote and you will find the pattern for purchase HERE from U handbag and it's a very well written pattern. When I initially purchased the pattern I flicked through the steps but when I saw how many pages and steps there were to the pattern I will admit I was more than a little overwhelmed. However once I purchased everything I needed for it and started to make my first one I realised there were a lot of steps because it was so well written and it actually came together fairly easily. This was my first attempt at ever making a bag of any sort and I found that the steps explained everything in detail enough so that even I could understand them.

Since then I have made 4 more of them for presents and everyone I have made them for has fallen in love with this tote. It has shoulder straps that are at a fantastic length so it doesn't hurt your shoulder or neck. It just seems to distribute the weight a little better than other handbags I have. Also it has clear plastic tubing in the handles which I think also gives it some added extra comfort and helps as a cushioning for you shoulder.

It's also a great size and you can load lots of stuff into it.( If anybody is like me we all like to carry lots of stuff in our bags) Also the size of this bag and the fact that it has tie's on the sides that you could loosen off or undo if you needed to means you could potentially use this as an overnight bag if you needed to. It also has two pockets - one on the inside with a magnetic clasp (which I find great for putting my car keys in so I don't have to go digging around in the bottom of my bag to try and find) and then it also has the one on the outside with a zipper which is great for holding your phone which again makes it easy to find it. As we all know both keys and phone always want to sink to the bottom of our bags so we can't locate them when we need them.

Here it is expanded with the tie's undone. The amount of space you have inside this tote is incredible. This would even make a great bag for holding crafting supplies like Hexagon EPP projects to take on the go or some crochet or knitting projects for when you are waiting around for kids, after school activities or doctors appointments.

So if you're looking for a great tote bag pattern why not give this pattern a try. It's fun to make and you could make them in loads of different colour and fabric combinations of your choice.
Take care and have a beautiful weekend. XO