The Nest Egg Tote by Carolyn Friedlander made me realize I can’t always use what I have on hand or it won’t turn out the way it should, and I learned precision is vital when making this tote.

First mistake: I cut the handle and strap strips too wide. Luckily I was using the wrong sized D-rings and it wasn’t too much of a problem on the handle, but the straps were supposed to sit completely on the outside of the gusset and mine are inside the seams so the handles hang a little wonky:

Second mistake: I didn’t use ultra-firm stabilizer for the inside inserts. Instead I used Soft & Stable stabilizer and when the tote was finished it tended to collapse. This was one mistake I fixed. I bought ultra-firm stabilizer and stitched it to the inserts I had already made:

It was now even stronger and I liked that.

Third mistake: Using a dark fabric on the outside and a light fabric on the inside. The black thread from the outside stitching sometimes peaked through the light fabric even though I used white thread in the bobbin, and I don’t like that.

Fourth mistake: I didn’t intertwine the elastic strips to give the right tension to hold the items inside. When I redid the inserts with the ultra-firm stabilizer, I fixed this mistake:

If I made this tote again, I would make the outside gusset cover the same fabric as the gusset, and I’d try to follow the directions exactly.