Roller Derby Tote Bag

The December Out of the Box challenge was to ‘Make a Real Woman of Your Choice!’ It was also a gift exchange. The perfect opportunity to work up this fabulous Sublime Stitching Roller Derby pattern.

I’ve been hoarding a series of these patterns for several years. Always with the best of intentions. The challenge finally motivated some action. A few Flickr searches later I had some very good inspiration. Photos of real Roller Derby gals inspired the addition of the fishnet stockings, my absolute FAVORITE part.

The stitching began without a plan for the final presentation. I decided to use it as an embellishment on my latest tote bag design. As I work through a design I always look for opportunities to make yet another version that won’t totally burn me out on the process.

I debated about the best way to attach the piece to the bag. It was embroidered on Ivory Aiden Linen. I was nervous to just sew it onto the surface of the tote bag pocket. Cleaning would be a problem. I had some of this plastic on hand. Usually sold for covering tables. I layered the stitching between the plastic and the pocket. Next time I’ll take pictures before making the sandwich!

My thinking was that the tote bag would mostly like wear out before the embroidery. The pocket could be easily cut off and saved for another use.

A point of advice on the plastic: I had a yard of this stuff in my stash and it had been stored for over a year folded up. Really bad idea. The creases appear to be permanent. Most corners where the folds rested contained tiny little tears in the plastic. I was able to selvage a piece that was free from both and still large enough to cover the embroidery.

I’ve already started on my next one. This one I’m keeping for myself.

(Here’s the original post where I explained how the Out of the Box group works. Click on the Out of the Box category in the side bar to see all the posts related to the group.)