If you've been following this blog, you know I've been on The Great Tote Bag search for a while now. Too long.
The problem is that I found the tote bag that fits me exactly right. It has everything I need and want. And LL Bean hasn't sold it since I bought it. I check regularly. My tweet at them went unanswered.
I thought about sewing my own tote bag--I even bought a pattern and some fabric to make it--but I'm still a beginner and this project seems daunting.
And so I continue to hunt for the best replacement bag.
There is a brand I've seen advertised on Instagram that looked intriguing. I order the bag that fit the size I wanted, but it was arranged so it was narrow, not wide, and the opening was so tight, it made it difficult to use.
Maika had another tote bag, though. The Carryall bag.
I didn't order it originally because I knew from the dimensions it was too big. Around Christmas/New Year time, though, they did a mystery bag sale and the price was marked way, way down. The only catch was that I wouldn't know which fabric I was getting. That's why they called it a mystery bag. My guess is these are bags they had too many of and they'd just grab one of the overstocks and send it out.
Spoiler alert: I got the Carryall in the fabric I wanted. Not all the fabrics were available. I believe there were around half a dozen there was a chance to receive. I lucked out here.
I was right--the bag is too big. But even though it's not right for a work tote, I still use it all the time.
It's roomy, with a large opening which makes it easy to get things in and out.
It has three interior pockets and a key leash, exactly what I wanted.
And I still don't have a new work tote because this is just so big! The company just came out with a new tote bag and it intrigues me because it might be close to the right size. I'm not ready, though, to test it out when the bags are more than I want to spend when they're full price. (Although have you seen the price of tote bags now?)
I'm kind of hoping they put the new bag on mystery sale this upcoming Christmas. That would be my ideal way to try it out. In the meantime, I'll keep using my old tote bag.
