Joanne's, for one, carries the feet with all of the supplies to make purses.

Ditto what ever I like too!

I use my quilting cottons and always fusible fleece.

I have always used 100% cotton backed with dura-bond stabilizer. It holds up well and sews well. So far the purses have "worn" great. I just finished making three of them for Christmas gifts and they look pretty good considering I am a novice at purse making.

I use whatever fabric I like on totes I keep for myself. However, I find the 100% cotton totes are the ones that sell the best. The cotton totes I have hold up really good.

I might recommend that you obtain some regular-weight cotton in a complementary color for the Bow Tuck ties?

I've made several bow tuck bags as well as other purses and totes and use cotton all the time. It holds up well through the season(s).

Here's a couple of tips I came up with to help the bag last through more than one season --

- use Scotchgard to help with warding off dirt.
- might consider buying purse feet to keep the bottom of the bag clean
- reinforce any stress areas
-- on the bow tuck specifically, the bows that are tied on the ends need extra reinforcement. my first one popped stitches after several months of re-tieing.

Hope this helps and have fun making this bag - it's so easy and fun to make !!

I use different types of fabrics - whatever I like or have on hand. :lol:

Any suggestions on what to line a pocket with if you want it to be really sturdy....like leather but not leather. Something you can sew on a regular sewing machine. Thanks.

Denim.