Sallie Tomato Faux Leather Tour

I was excited when I was approached by Jess to participate in the Sallie Tomato Faux Leather Tour.  Their new line of faux leather is vegan, super soft, and comes in several colors and three different textures - Weave, Pebble, and Legacy. 

I have machine embroidered on cork (and LOVE it) and I was excited to try my hand at designing something to be stitched out on faux leather.  I knew that this would be different because faux leather is much more pliable and I was not sure how it would hold up under dense stitching.

Although I have been working on two new patterns, I decided to focus on my new Bit-O-Color alphabet for this project. I was sure that the letters would look great on the faux leather for the bottom front of the Zippy Crossbody Bag.

Once I got started, I could not stop.   Luckily I had several  Zippy Crossbody hardware sets and more Sallie Tomato zipper tape then I could measure.  I used the Concrete Pebble Faux Leather for two of the bags and the Navy Legacy Faux Leather.  I used the Antique Gold finish for the zippers and the hardware. The sayings I decided on were: BE KIND, AWESOME, and at my daughters' instance...BOSS LADY. 

I used two layers of heavy weight, tear away stabilizer.  I hooped one layer and then floated the second layer.  I used a Schmetz 11/75 embroidery needle, Glide pre-wound bobbins, and Glide thread. I cut the faux leather larger than the 5 3/4" x 9" necessary for the front bottom so that I could hold it down during embroidery with a basting stitch.   I used Essex Linen for the exterior of each bag. 

Once the embroidery was finished, I cut the faux leather down to size and proceeded with making the bags. I made the bags assembly-line fashion. Jessica's instructions are fabulous!  This is from someone who is not usually a bag maker.   One little tip: when you cut your for 12" zippers for each bag, stitch close to the ends over the coils so that you don't inadvertently pull the zipper tabs off when you are sewing.  

And...here they are!