Christmas gifts

So this isn’t exactly a post about food, but I wanted to share the three bags I made for my mum and my two sisters for Christmas.  Along with baking I love to sew and I have so much “stash” fabric that needed to be used and every time my mother visits she points out the fabrics she likes.  So I tried three new bag patterns this year.  Two were Simplicity and one was a Jenna Lou Design.

The first bag is for my sister Terrell. 

It’s a front flap with adjustable traps and two pockets on the inside.

The next bag is for my other sister Meredith.  Also a Simplicity pattern as the one above.

and the inside.

The last bag was a Jenna Lou Design and for my mother.  I used some left over Joel Dewberry textile fabric I had.  It’s the only one of three that has a zipper pocket.

and a shot at the pocket!

Thanks for looking!

Linking with:
Get Your Craft On

Halloween Inspired Bag

I saw this on crafster and loved it, so I made one for a friend who is in love with this holiday and has done so much for me over the years. It's not much, but I hope she loves it!

Christmas 2009

Christmas has come and gone and I can now post all the things I made.
So here we go:


These are the gifts for Abby's teacher and day care teachers. I made water bottle holders. The one with Abby's hand print is the one for Mrs. Beaton, JK teacher extraordinare!






These are the gifts for all the little girls in our lives. I thought little girly bags to carry all their stuff would hit the right tune for the pink contingent in our life.






The messenger bag I made as a request from my cousin and I had enough of the material left over to make her daughter a matching girly bag. Mother and daughter shall be very stylish indeed.










This is the bag I made for my mother in law to carry her work out clothes and for her vacation this winter. Just a tote made from this fantastic home decor fabric I found. I have enough to make about 4 of these!








This bag I made for my mother. It's the Amy Butler Birdie Sling. Its for their adventures this year from Singapore to Dubai on a fantastic cruise!







This is the bag I made for sister. I thought a good messenger bag would work well for her!

Sock Monkey Bag

My sister loves her sock monkeys, so for her birthday this past weekend this is what she got, a sock monkey tote bag. It's a very simple design with cozy flannel fabric. The banana fabric for the pockets just makes it.

The Birdie Sling

Well this is technically the first bag I sewed, but couldn't publish because it was a gift. The Amy Butler Birdie Sling. A friend at work had made a few for sale and gifts and I really liked the look, not for myself necessarily, but thought it was a pretty bag. So my first try went extremely well, right up until I had to make a gussett. Now, not being a sewer, this was like reading chinese to me. It wasn't until I found a great blog that showed me how to do it. http://modernquiltlove.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/photo-tutorial-amy-butler-birdie-sling/ This was a lifesaver, for the second attempt. I used the Amy Butler Nigella home decor fabric and think it looks great!

The ladies at the quilting store helped me out with the lining fabric, we got the whole shop involved and I think it turned out great.

My adventures in making a gym bag

So here's my latest attempt at something new in the sewing world. My gym bag finally needed to be tossed, so I made up the pattern as I went along. I had found this awesome fabric and didn't know what to do with and realized it would make a great gym bag. It's just a basic size, at least it is now. When I first sewed it, it was huge, but after a little creative cutting, it's the size you see below. It has pockets on both the inside and outside. There is a lid and have added buttons to keep it closed. I used medium weight interfacing, but it wasn't sturdy enough so I added in after the fact, fusible fleece. I now know what I would do differently, so the next one will be much easier!

Here's with the top sewed on.