Well, it has been a year since I posted this thread. I finally have started on the tote. First, the tips were spot on! Thank you! They really helped! I consider myself a confident purse maker and I knew that the Professional tote would certainly stretch my abilities . It has not dissapointed! I just finished the outside of the purse and I am sure that the rest is going to fall into place quickly and quicker. Whew!!!
Musings so far. Hints from "Nammie to 7 " were spot on!! As were others.
yes, get the Wonder Clips! Much easier to use vs trying to pin through thicknesses.
Use a walking foot! Needed for sewing thickness.
Use a Teflon foot if using faux leather! I used faux leather for the straps and the bottom of the purse. Worked great!
Use a jean needle. For thickness.
my Janome 9900 really handles sewing through thickness beautifully. Pretty sure that I would not tackle this pattern using my smaller Janome 3050. The sewing bed is too small imho. At one step I sewed through 2 layers of Soft & Stable, 2 layers of fabric AND 6 layers of the faux leather!! (Straps). I just went slow and used my walking foot. No problem! Whew! So proud of that machine!
Take your time, read and read again each step. Excellent instructions!
I hope to finish this in the next week or so. Time permitting!
Sandy
Last edited by Sandygirl; 09-12-2015 at 02:34 PM.