Hapai Tote

 This is a largish tote that I sewed this weekend. Santa was pretty good to me this year - this Hapai Tote was offered as a kit from CloBird Designs. It arrived in January and didn't sit around too long.

It's designed by Jessica Curzan of SewDaKine in Hawaii. This is who I order my cork fabric from.

For this tote kit, I opened it up and was rather dismayed to find it was all taupe. The cork, the lining, the main fabric were all shades of nothingness. I almost started sewing it with the burgundy thread in my sewing machine but decided to sew it as a normal person who never deviates and always has matching thread in the sewing machine. (It was screamin'difficult for only ten minutes)

 I liked how Jessica designed this. She also runs  a Production Sewing group on Facebook. Keep the shapes simple, cut multiples at a time, sew each section, then move on to the next. Already things I'm interested in. Jessica puts it out there in a fun, productive way. She is earning a living (plus) sewing bags. A goal to emulate.

 Once I was finished, it was still beige, and the rainy day was so not helping on the camera lighting.  I added a Hawaiian zipper charm and then hung it up to ignore for a couple of hours.
 
 I decided it needed a giant tassel.
 
I still have Kyle's turquoise tassel that she sent me. It was the right size but not quite right, color wise. I rummaged around and found a burgundy vinyl and quickly made a tassel that *helps*.

I love how the pattern designer added a recessed zipper to this bag. It keeps things from toppling out. This bag is made with firmer materials like cork and canvas but it still likes to collapse a bit.

Her directions are for the intermediate sewist. There were a couple of directions that a beginner would need help deciphering.

It's big enough to throw a couple of beach towels in. It's also washable. Yes, that cork is washable. It's a renewable resource, backed onto a stabilizer fabric. It doesn't fray, making this easy to execute.

I'm still staring at it and knowing it will pop over to the etsy shop to be sold to someone who appreciates it more.

It's way too big for  me. Perfect for a beach tote - size wise - but the colors don't make me happy. I might do some more work on it - maybe some hand-stitching in a burgundy color to match the tassel.