When Aneela Hoey asked me if I would like to test her new pattern I was delighted, I mean how could I turn her down?? I felt honoured!

The pattern comes with not only the embroidery design but also the instructions on how to make it into this beautiful super roomy and handy tote bag. How many times have you stitched something for it to languish in a drawer somewhere never to be used again?

With so many elements to this pretty pattern it took me quite a while to decide what colours I wanted to use. Although I knew that I wanted to use Essex Yarn Dyed Linen in Steel, as it is one of my favourite linen fabrics at the moment.

I struggled with the bold colours in this, it’s a type of colour that I’m not used to using and tend to steer away from in favour of pastel and pale colours, I actually unpicked some areas of this a couple of times. Although in the end I think I am happy with the balance of the bold and the pastels together.

This was a lovely project to do of an evening, and I throughly enjoyed it. Aneela cleverly walks you through every step and stitch so don’t worry if you’re new to embroidery or see a stitch you havent done before, there are clear diagrams and instructions on how to do them.

I managed to whiz up the bag in an afternoon, and I am thrilled to now how have such a large pretty bag. Although I think it may be a bit too pretty to use for groceries, but it’ll certainly brighten up the post run!

Fabric used: Exterior – Essex yarn dyed linen in Steel

Thread used:

Aurifloss by Aurifil, Colours, 5006, 2588, 2423, 2225, 2437, 1135, 2424, 2479, 2865, 2520, 2830, 2784.

The pattern is now available to buy and is available here