Noodlehead Oxbow Tote

My sewjo still has not completely returned, so I am having to find ways to force myself to sew. I have a friend who is moving and I decide to make her the Oxbow Tote by Noodlehead as a parting gift.  I chose to make the "regular" version.  I call it the "happy tote" because with all the colors it just made me happy to look at it.

I thoroughly enjoyed making this bag - it was therapeutic for me.  After I made it, I wanted to keep it so bad 😂.  When I gave it to her I was hoping she didn't like it so I could keep it.

How I Did It

I am drowning in fabric and broke, but I wanted to buy fabric so bad for this project, but I refrained and forced myself used what I had in my stash.  All notions needed came from stash as well.

I don't have many construction pictures because the pattern designer has a sew along video that shows the detail.  I mainly focused on showing the handle and dealing with the leather.

• Fabric

• The outer fabric and fabric used for the strap (blue) came from Hobby Lobby.
• The lining and top accent on the strap probably came from one of my quilts stores that I frequent.
• The leather for the front outer pocket, the base, and the zipper tab came from some leather given to me.  The leather was balled up in a bag.  It has a lot of defects on the surface, so I cut the better parts that I could find.

• Pattern Adjustments

• The 1 1/2" straps called for cotton webbing which I did not have so I improvised.  Each time I make my own straps I always forget to add a seam allowance.  I had limited fabric that had already been stitched together to make the length that I needed and I didn't have enough to fix the issue.  I decided to use the lining fabric (which I had plenty of) as an accent to cover my mistake.  This is one time I was happy that I made this mistake.  To give them stability I had some fusible hair canvas to the straps.
• I didn't have the Pellon SF101 needed for the base so I used 2 layers of the fusible hair canvas.

• Some Construction Pictures

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• Some Finished Pictures

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Conclusion 

I loved making this tote and eventually will make another for myself.  

This was the first time I had really worked with leather and found that fabric glue was my friend to manage it and to make sewing it much easier.

After I completed this tote I seriously considered keeping it for myself but ultimately I gave it to the intended person.

What's Next

Haven't a clue, but do which my sewjo would return 😞.