Two Bags Delivered

The whole time I’ve been testing crossbody bag patterns, I was thinking about the circus fabric my cousin gave me. I knew I wanted to make tote bags out of the elephant fabric, as there was much less of that fabric, and I needed to stretch it to make three bags. Hmmm, now that I’m looking at these two fabrics again, I don’t even know why I have envisioned it as circus fabric in my head. I don’t even know what to call it, but I sure love those colors! Anyway, I used the Tourist Tote Bag pattern from Sew … Continue reading

So Proud of Myself!

Every time we travel, the Jazzman forgets to take along a container (think: plastic grocery bag, shopping bag, cloth tote from car trunk for bagging groceries or one of the hundred or so Jan-crafted bags sitting around my sewing room!) in which to stash his dirty clothes before we head home. Every so often, I think I should make or buy him a bag for his laundry, and then once we’re back home and I’m in practice and performance mode, I forget all about it. This week I was busy with: 1) my cousin’s bags, making a false bottom for … Continue reading

What Was I Thinking?

For some reason, this spring and summer somehow became my time of buying bag kits. I look back on this box full of kits sitting by my feet whenever I’m sitting at my Juki, and wonder what I was thinking. What appealed to me about these Sallie Tomato kits that were promoted in the weekly emails from the designer? I love choosing fabrics for bags, sorting through my stash of bag hardware to choose the metal color that I think will best complement the fabrics, and relishing that entire design process. Why did I think I wanted to choose another … Continue reading

A Sweet Blast from the Past

Back in the early 2000s, when my two grandbabies were born, I bought them each Barefoot Dreams Receiving Blankets from Nordstrom. These were the original Barefoot Dreams blankets. They were flannel on one side and a polyester satin on the other side. They were bound with satin piping, and my first babe loved to rub that satin while falling asleep. On the flannel side was a satin square, with the following words woven into the square: “Laugh With Me,” “Dream With Me,” “Grow With Me,” and “Cuddle With Me.” The receiving blankets measured 27″ x 36″. (How do I know … Continue reading

Never Too Old to Learn

I love learning new things. The reason I write my blog posts in so much detail, and carefully tell you every mistake I made, is so you might learn from my errors and be inspired to try using one of the bag patterns I use. Back in April or May, I was on the Klum House site, looking for something or other, and saw that Ellie Lum, the designer behind the label, was offering an Intermediate Bag Making class. It was more than I usually spend on an impulse purchase, but I wanted to learn what Ellie had to offer. … Continue reading