Nova Tote : Stitched With Love

4 comments by Christine Lux

Hello there! 

Its Quilt Market Time once again and so as usual, I decided at the last minute to make a new bag! 

I love making the Nova Tote - it is definitely my go-to bag pattern. But recently, I made the Stitched With Love mini (designed by Camille Roskelley of Thimble Blossoms) and as soon as I finished it, I knew I’d be making another and turning it into a bag! A few folks on IG requested a bit more info, so I took some photos - which aren’t in great lighting due to late night sewing 😂 - but I hope they will help!

For this one, I used a lot of leftovers from our Stitched With Love kit, but added in some favorites from my stash as well. the mini was made as called for (I did clip the corner on the top left of the machine and did some special fussy cut piecing for Sew Lux using this print). Instead of the border, I used more of the background to make it wide enough to quilt the bag front. 

I made the main part of the bag as called for in the pattern, including straps etc. The major difference here was I put the strap on the front before attaching the pocket. This is because I didn’t want to put the straps over the piecing on the pocket. 😁

Since this machine “block” is much larger than the pocket size the bag pattern calls for, there were a few other adjustments to make. 

I covered the bottom of the straps on the front of the bag in a similar fashion as the bottom panel before attaching the pocket. The top of my pocket is approximately 1.25” from the top edge of the bag. 

Then the bottom panel of the bag was cut 3” shorter than the original measurements called for. This allowed me to cover the raw edge of the pocket and also the raw edge of the straps on the back side of the bag. 

Then the only other major change I made was to the measurements when boxing the bottom. It was one inch shorter since the pocket comes down so far in the front. 

I did make this using Soft & Stable and bound all my seams as shown in our Nova Tote Sew Along last year.

I used a fabric on the back that had a grid in the design - I quilted in the lines and you can barely even notice the quilting. 

I did add a magnetic snap closure (Sew-in) to keep the pocket closed since the straps over the pocket on the original design typically do this. 

I hope you enjoy checking out my new bag! If you have questions, feel free to reach out. 

Happy Sewing!

 


4 comments


  • Joyce Fratini

    Do you know where we can get the Nova bag pattern? It is no longer on Craftsy or Etsy.


  • Darlene Takeuchi

    Did you make the medium or large bag for the Stitched With Love design?

    Thanks,
    Darlene


  • Kelsey

    Will you ever release a pattern for this??


  • Diane McFarlin

    I love the bags you make!! Thank you for sharing how you make them, the patterns you use, and the fabric you use as well. Such a talent you have…


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