I’ve been looking for a wide bag for a while and the large size of the Emma Tote has the right dimensions for what I need. I was originally planning to make this in the large width and medium length and height. However when I looked at the pattern I realised the construction would make this very complicated, if you are amazing at maths I’m sure it could be done but it was beyond me.
I used a small piece of British Millerain dry waxed cotton for the outside (left over from a coat I made a few years ago). There are separate pattern pieces for a heavy interfacing and Bara Studio sell a very nice looking one. However shipping and import charges to the UK are very high so I needed an alternative. You can use decovil but I wanted a different finish. In the end I used cotton canvas, quilting cotton and bondaweb to create a sturdy interfacing and used an extra layer of buckram on the bottom piece.
The pattern came together easily and everything matched up perfectly, the challenge is sewing multiple layers of thick fabrics but I used a jeans needle as recommended and my machine coped very well. I’m particularly pleased with the finish in the zip, and it’s turned out to be just as sturdy as I wanted.