Lina and Vi: Details on my New Bag - The Gavo Burlap Tote

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Details on my New Bag - The Gavo Burlap Tote

Gavo burlap tote bag - exterior - linaandvi.blogspot.com

This past week, I focused on creating a new bag for my own winter wardrobe, the Gavo burlap tote. If you've been reading for a while, you may recall that last spring I created a new burlap tote bag for myself, the Crop 2013, where I hand-sewed leather handles on to the bag. I used that bag for nearly seven months, and the leather handles are still in excellent shape. I decided that I needed a new bag for winter, something that was a bit more neutral for the colder months. That is how the Gavo burlap tote bag was born.

I cut the Gavo burlap from a coffee sack that had simple purple industrial text printed on it. For me, I tend to prefer graphic text and a more industrial look for my own bags. I paired the purple with some leftover gray thick upholstery fabric for the bottom exterior (same fabric used on this Arabic cross-body fold-over bag) and dark gray fleece for the interior lining. The fleece is super soft on the inside, which is a nice contrast to the rough burlap on the outside. However, it does add some bulk into the bag, so I lost a little bit of room on the interior for storage. From there, I removed the leather handles from the Crop 2013 and hand-sewed them onto the Gavo bag.

Gavo burlap tote bag - exterior - linaandvi.blogspot.com

Gavo burlap tote bag - exterior detailed - linaandvi.blogspot.com

Inside the bag, I created a small zipper pouch using a white 7" inch zipper I had on hand. I also sewed two slide pocket on the opposite side of the interior lining, where one pocket was measured to specifically fit my cell (the perks of sewing for yourself!). I trimmed the opening of the pockets with the same gray material used for the bottom of the bag to bring it all together (slide pockets not pictured here).

Gavo burlap tote bag - interior view - linaandvi.blogspot.com

Gavo burlap tote bag - top view - linaandvi.blogspot.com

I like how this bag turned out, but it ended up a little bit smaller than I had hoped it would be. I'm giving it a whirl this week to see how it goes in terms of holding all of the items I carry with me daily. Overall, I love the neutral colors used for this bag and I love the use of the fleece - that was an unexpected win for me.

So, have you created anything out of fleece that wasn't a fleece blanket? I'm curious to know what other ways fleece is used in sewing outside of the traditional blanket.



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