My new favorite bag...with a little Stephen King thrown in

I was looking for some inspiration yesterday while contemplating what to sew next so I decided to do a search for free bag patterns.  Up to this point I've just bought sewing books and while I have found some really cute bags, I felt like I'd made all of my favorites.  So while searching yesterday I cam across the 'For Pleat's Sake' tote pattern on Lisa Lam's bag blog http://u-handbag.typepad.com/.  It is really cute and different and I fell in love with it immediately.  You can check it out here:  'For Pleats Sake' Free Bag Pattern

I also own her book The Bag Making Bible and it is fabulous as well.  So I sat down and made this tote while listening to Stephen King's Hearts in Atlantis audiobook.  (strange sewing background audio I know :))  I have been a Stephen King addict for years and have been listening to nothing but his audiobooks while I sew.  So far I have listened to Lisey's Story, Bag of Bones, Everything's Eventual, Full Dark, No Stars, and Night Shift.  Only Bag of Bones was new to me, but I had read the others and audiobooks are so different than regular books:)  I hope to conquer The Dark Tower series and then maybe move on to another author.  Here is a pic of my bag:

Here is a pic of the inside.  I really like the cream lining with the brown outside.  The outside is a sturdy brown canvas and the inside is cream cotton fabric.  I added a vintage cream doily to the outside, which adds to the natural feel of the bag.

I also added this adorable little pocket to the inside made from vintage pillowcase fabric:

I made a few adjustments to the pattern.  I made the handles rather than using store bought ones, which changed how I sewed the top.  I folded the right sides of the top of the lining and the outer fabric together and sewed the handles in instead of sewing the two together completely and then turning it right side out.  I also changed the bottom to make it more tote like.  I plan to make another, but will shorten it so it is more like a purse than a tote.  I will be listing this bag in my etsy shop.  You can check out it and my other cute bags at this link: Etsy Shop

I have given myself a break this week as it is my first week of summer vacation from teaching at the community college.  However, next week I will start trying to balance sewing and dissertating.  This should be interesting :)