Photo courtesy of Leanne Prain’s Strange Materials

Confession: I had never followed a sewing pattern before I wrote this one for the Love Your City tote bag. I’m a bit of a wing-it sewer (along with a wing-it baker, and wing-it just about everything. I’m in the “measure never, cut a million times” camp). BUT, this pattern works! And I’ve never had a conversation starter quite like this one. Holding it on my lap on the streetcar is gold and starts the most fascinating conversations. The thought of a small army of handmade city-loving tote bags parading all over Canada, the US and the UK fills me with delight.

The original design was included in Leanne Prain‘s brilliant book Strange Materials: Storytelling Through Textiles, and it’s now being featured in the August edition of The Simple Things, a lovely UK magazine (and on their blog!)