Category Archives: Bags

Three-Quarter Patch Tote from Craftsy

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Shall we admit that I’m a pushover for a clearance sale? Even when I have a lot of fabric that is perfect for making a cute bag, I still follow the links in the Craftsy emails I get. Must get help to beat this addiction! It’s opera season at the university where I work as a collaborative pianist. So my time is not my own. But last week we had a day off between final dress rehearsal and first performance. I grabbed that time, preceded by a couple of stolen hours on Easter weekend, to make the opportunity to sew. … Continue reading →

Sweetpea Pods

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I’m having a special party on Sunday. My new-to-me sister is coming to Ohio for Christmas with her granddaughter. My children, grandchildren, and our circle of friends are gathering at my home to meet my sister, her eldest daughter, and her younger daughter’s daughter and son-in-law. When any of our friends has a party, everyone brings food. As I am not a cook, I am filled with gratitude to these friends for making the party doable for me. To thank them for all this work, I wanted to make a little gift for each of the ladies to take home. … Continue reading →

The 5,000-Mile Bag

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Two days in a row with time for sewing—yea! [Or, as my sons tell me I should say—yay!] Yesterday I finished the Swoon “Ramona” crossbody bag. Today I finished a CloBird Designs “Tulip” bag. This is my second Tulip and it was made for a special lady. My new sister’s granddaughter is a missionary in Kosovo. When I sent my sister a picture of the Tulip I made for myself, she said, “That’s just the type of bag that Jennifer has been looking for.” So, of course, I immediately started to think about making one for Jen. I have only … Continue reading →

The Third Time is the Charm

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I haven’t made much time to sew lately. Eight hours each week is taken up by chauffeuring my elder grandchild to her high school, 35 miles away. Preparing for and recovering from a yard sale ate up a couple of weeks. Having my car stolen and replacing it took another week. And I got stuck on a bag I was making for my [new] great-niece (the 30-something granddaughter of my newly discovered half-sister). This is the third week I’ve devoted two hours each Wednesday afternoon to my younger granddaughter, Ridley. I pick her up from school and take her to … Continue reading →

A Second Bag to Meet My Needs

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A year ago I had started a new job and was overwhelmed carrying my iPad plus binders of music back and forth from home to school. I made a Swoon Patterns “Alice” bag out of music-themed fabric to keep everything together and manageable. Sidenote: As I was pulling the Swoon link for “Alice,” I noticed it was a free pattern. If you’re thinking a bag like this would be fun to make, here’s a great way to start Swooning. There’s a private Facebook group you’ll want to join, as Swooners are really nice people and sewists who like to share … Continue reading →

A Carry-On for Me

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This summer has been filled with carry-on trips. My mother’s memorial service near Asheville, NC, required a Saturday morning flight down and a Sunday afternoon flight back with a knit dress, a pair of heeled sandals, and my cosmetic bag tucked into a carry-on bag. The next weekend I flew to Dallas on Friday afternoon and returned Sunday morning—another carry-on trip with the same knit dress and sandals so I could play a half hour of old hymns for my girlfriend’s husband’s memorial service. And a fleece jacket and closed toe shoes so I could watch my firstborn son play … Continue reading →

Keep Calm and Sew On

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I hate how busy I’ve been this semester. I’m preparing a full-length “Cosi fan tutte” for late April. A kids’ version of Cosi, with its own abbreviated score, will be presented the morning of that event’s opening. I have not yet seen the kids’ cuts, but know that I am the orchestra for that production, where I believe I’m only accompanying the recitative (but the entire score for all the rehearsals over the entire semester) for the full evening opera. A 45-minute opera for kids, Billy Goats Gruff, is to be presented today at Stambaugh Auditorium and then five times … Continue reading →

A Bag to Meet All My Musical Needs

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I’m currently working four different collaborative pianist jobs, which means several binders full of music, plus my iPad and Bluetooth page-turn pedal, and a calendar on which I attempt to keep my life organized. Since the first day of class, I have been trying to figure out the best way to keep track of all this music and transport it back and forth from home to performance space. When I made Swoon Patterns’ Alice for my grand-high-schooler to use as a bookbag, I started thinking maybe Alice was the bag I needed to schlep all my music. I have a … Continue reading →