I have a weakness for tote bags. I no longer carry purses and a clutch just doesn’t seem to cut it. Totes are versatile. They fit everything. They are stylish, functional and cute. They are my bae.
When we moved I had to make hard choices about some of my totes. Some of them did not make the cut. One of them found a home with my son’s girlfriend and the others found new homes through Goodwill (at least I hope they did). I was only able to part with them because I knew a new tote was in my future once I was moved and settled into our new place.
The great people at Thirty-One Gifts offered me a chance to try out one of their new products. I of course said yes and chose the soft utility tote. I’ll confess, outside of a small wallet that was a gift, I’ve never owned anything from thirty-one gifts but I love their products. It’s one of those things where I’ve just coveted them from afar.
The Soft Utility Tote is brand new in the Fall 2015 catalog from Thirty-One Gifts. It comes in one of four lovely patterns and makes other soft totes pale in comparison.
What drew me to the soft utility tote was it’s versatility. I actually think this tote is more versatile than its sister products, the deluxe utility tote and the large utility tote. The Thirty-One Gifts soft utility tote, in my opinion offers many more uses and was the perfect choice for me to make. There are four prints to choose from; Charcoal Links (as seen in the picture below, that’s what I chose), Black Twill Stripe, Navy Dancing Dot, and Parisian Garden (I almost got that one but I couldn’t find a color that I liked for engraving).
My new tote!
Here are just some of the great features I’ve already found:
- No poles! While the deluxe and large utility totes have the metal poles around the top, the soft utility tote does not – that makes it much easier to carry on my shoulder.
- Easy to clean – Made from polyester, nylon and canvas, the soft utility tote is easy to wipe down and clean.
- Handles awkward shapes. From shopping items like zucchinis and milk jugs, I haven’t found anything that doesn’t fit well and still allow me to carry it comfortably because… no metal poles!
- Multiple ways to secure your items. I can tie the tote closed two ways with the ties on the side – either by bringing them together and tying in the middle or threading them through the grommets below the handle and tying. Plus, the snap in the center gives additional security.
- Folds small for easy storage (but I’m pretty much never going to store it away. I’ve already found several uses!).
- Two pockets on the inside are perfect for holding just about any small item you need. I immediately think of a small notepad, a pen, lip gloss, eye liner, my checkbook.
- One large pocket on the outside and you have just enough space for last minute items such as a tablet, phone, makeup bag, tissues, a couple or three steno notebooks, keys, yarn… but that’s just off the top of my head.
Now you might be thinking, “I know you. I bet you used it for yarn,” and you would be right! Yarn was the first thing I imagined using my soft utility tote for and I initially filled it with some of the yarn that was still packed away. It’s the perfect size to take with me to knitting meet-ups and the pockets are the perfect place to store extra needles and those must have knitting accessories and notions like stitch markers, highlighter tape, a crochet hook, a notepad for pattern notes, row counter, pen, highlighter, or both. You can tell I’ve given this some thought can’t you?
It holds A LOT of yarn.
However, we also took the soft utility tote with us grocery shopping and I was amazed at what I could fit inside. I was able to carry in a gallon of milk, plus two bags of groceries, I still had room in the tote and still had my hands free.
Don’t mind the marshmallows. They were on sale.
When we moved we also said goodbye to a few laundry baskets and scaled the ones we kept to roughly six (don’t judge me. How many laundry baskets do you own?). So of course when they were all filled last weekend, I told the kids to just grab the tote and fill it with the clean laundry coming out of the dryer. This made it easy for Peanut to carry his clean, unfolded *ahem* laundry to his room so it could be put away. Laundry baskets aren’t always the most user friendly for nine year olds.
As the weather gets colder and I opt to stay in more, I fully intend to make use of the soft utility tote’s size and make a trip to the library to stock up on movies and books.
I really think the opportunities for use and storage are endless with the new soft utility tote but here’s a short list of just a few ways I’ll use mine:
- Shopping tote
- Library tote
- Yarn tote (it can even go with me to knitting meet ups)
- Weekender bag for trips to Anchorage.
- Pool bag (Peanut will start swimming lessons through his school in the spring)
- Laundry bag
- Toy/Lego Tote
With the holidays starting up, I can see many more uses for the soft utility tote and I’d love to give you the opportunity to have one of your very own with a sweet giveaway sponsored by Thirty-One Gifts!
Isn’t she pretty?
Win a Soft Utility Tote from Thirty-One Gifts and Chaos in the Country
Do you love my new tote? Want to win one of your own? One winner will win a Thirty-One Gifts Soft Utility Tote in a pattern of their choice, complete with embroidering.
Enter to win one of the four soft utility tote patterns!
There are multiple ways to gain entries to the giveaway but you must complete the main entry first by commenting and tell me what you would do with your Soft Utility Tote. Then, simply follow the directions below and choose which additional entries you’d like to complete!
(Notes: this giveaway will run for seven days and is open to U.S. residents age 18 and older, the winner will be selected randomly and notified within 24 of the giveaway’s closing. The winner will have three days to respond to the giveaway via email. If they do not respond, within three days, a new winner will be chosen and notified via email. The winner’s entries will be verified before posting a public announcement.)
Good Luck!
*Review and giveaway sponsored by Thirty-One Gifts. Product was received in exchange to facilitate the review. Thoughts, opinions and love of totes big and small are entirely my own.
As you know I am into BIG crochet projects. This looks like the perfect bag to store a growing blanket with the yarn supplies as I work. Huge fan of Thirty-One and major tote addict as well.
I would use it for tailgating in the fall and crochet projects during the rest of the year.
I would use mine for all my weekend getaways with my man!
I would use it to carry stuff to school and work. I have always wanted to try a bag from 31 but I have a part time salary and just difficult to find extra money for something like that.
It’s perfect for weekend getaways!
I would use it at the grocery store. I also have lots of laundry baskets, I think 6
I would use it for a weekend bag AND for yarn projects.
This bag would be fabulous for when we take our girls to the park and the lake for the day.
gosh thats so cute! i might be tempted to just use it as an every day bag!
I would use it on trips in the car and on the plane as my personal item…looks like it holds a lot
I would use it to carry art supplies!
I would use it to carry books, and snacks for my sons wrestling meets and tournaments and my daughters swim meets
I’d probably use it for taking supplies back and forth to my daughters schools. Seems I never have enough hands or a big enough tote!
I would use it as my “to go” bag. We spend so much time in the car, and there is alot I need to carry but don’t want to haul it in my purse! 🙂
This tote is awesome, and I’m a connoisseur of totes! I would use it for knitting and spinning projects, weekend getaways and grandkid stuff for starters. Probably find other uses as well.
I’d use it at the new office!!