What's Under the Needle?

August Stitch Along Challenge Week 5 part 2

Posted by Ruth on 31 August 2014 | 0 Comments

Tags: stitch along

As promised, I'm back with the second part of my challenge story... adding the final touches to my tote. I finished off my tote so it is now all complete. Let's see what I did. If you missed the binding (part 1) you'll find it here: August Stitch Along Finishing up part 1

First I thought I'd better set to and stitch on those rose buds. I almost forgot so figured I should get them on before I do. I hand stitched them into the bouquet. Can you see them?

roses in bouquet

The next thing I wanted to do was add something for the ribbon tab to hook over which will hold the tote closed. I decided on a large black and pink bead. I also stitched this on by hand adding a smaller bead at one end to secure the thread as I only wanted to stitch the bead at one opening and leave it hanging.

bead attached

Now the ribbon tab fits nicely over it without slipping off. I left a little bit of slack to give room for the gift to go inside :)

tab over bead

I decided to make this tote like a lunch bag, where the sides fold into the top. To do that, I need something to hold them in, but not permanently. It needs to be adjustable so the tote can open and close. I thought about just adding some velcro dots, but that seemed too easy and not very decorative so I decided to add some more ribbon.

I cut two short lengths of ribbon (about 10" long) and tapered the ends to help prevent fraying.

tapered ribbon ends

I folded each ribbon in half to find the center and then stitched them to each front corner just below the binding through that center point.

ribbon stitched to corners of front

I didn't have enough of that ribbon to add two more to the back corners so I attached some gold rings instead. 

gold rings stitched to corners of back

I'll use the rings to thread the ribbon through....

ribbon threaded through rings

...and then tie a bow.

tie ribbon into a bow

One last thing to do. My party tab. I trimmed this down a bit and punched a hole at the top.

my party tab ready to write on and attach

Now I can write on it as a gift card and thread the ribbon through the hole before tying the bow.

gift tote is finished with tab attached

Here's my finished tote. 

gift tote is finished

I have just the perfect gift to pop inside and give to a special little girl who I'm sure will have fun with it. 

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