Field Notes: All the Things

Some projects come with a little more baggage.

They begin simply enough.

A skein or two. Needles. A pattern.

Then another skein finds its way in. The notions pouch follows. Scissors. Measuring tape. The pattern you printed even though it's already on your phone.

And perhaps another project.

Just in case.

Somewhere along the way, the project bag stops holding only the project.

I've always liked that about making.

The things gathered around a project tell a little of its story—the tools we reach for, the yarn we're not quite ready to leave behind, the possibilities we carry with us even when we probably have enough already.

Maybe that's why the All the Things Tote caught my attention.

Mary Clapp of From Mary's Craftroom loves to sew, and she created her line of project bags with a simple idea in mind: she wanted something functional and beautiful.

The All the Things Tote leaves plenty of room for both.

Its generous, open shape gives larger projects space to spread out, along with the extra skeins, tools, notions, and assorted companions that tend to gather as we make. Sturdy handles make it easy to carry everything along.

But Mary leaves room for something else, too.

She likes surprises.

A special pocket might appear in one bag. A small floral detail in another. Fabrics, colors, and textures change, and somewhere along the way Mary adds something you might not notice until you've spent a little time with the bag.

I like that.

There are all the things we deliberately carry into a project.

And then there are the things we discover along the way.