So Sew Easy Carry All Bag

Way back when Craftsy was Craftsy, long before it became Bluprint, then was sold, and now will become Craftsy again with all their databases of classes we’ve purchased intact, I saw a bag kit that I thought was very pretty. I bought the kit – the beautiful Modern Meadow line from Joel Dewberry with his Dogwood Bloom modern print on an aqua (“Pond”) background, lining fabric in the Herringbone print in Pond, and accents from the Herringbone print in navy (“Lake”). The pattern was the So Sew Easy “Carry All Bag,” a free pattern. Because of the Craftsy/Bluprint debacle, I … Continue reading

Masks and a Pouch for Storage

One of my lovely accompanees asked if I could make a couple of masks for her. After showing her the fabric choices, I made three masks. Then I ended the day by making a little pouch so she could store the clean masks safely in her bag or backpack. The pouch is from Sew Sweetness—the Hexi Zipper Pouch. This is a free pattern, a quick sew, a multi-purpose pouch. The pattern specifies foam interfacing, but you could just as easily make it with fusible fleece or even just Pellon’s Shape-Flex interfacing. I find if a bag has curves, it’s harder … Continue reading

Remembering Travel

Now that we’re five months into staying at home because of COVID-19, any memory of travel is precious. We don’t want to get on a plane or walk through an airport or even travel by car longer than two hours (y’know, because of the need for bathroom stops). In mid-May, the travel trailer rental site RVshare had reported a 1,000% increase in travel trailer bookings since April, as cited by the Boston Globe. I have to admit that my idea of roughing it involves a Marriott hotel, any Marriott hotel. I’ve tented before. I’ve camped in a pop-up trailer before. … Continue reading

An Hour Here, An Hour There

Those hours add up. Pretty soon you’re talking about a whole bag! (Photo: the front of the large Clydebank Tote from Sew Sweetness sewing patterns.) Link to Clydebank Tote pattern. I’m been making mask after mask. But before you envision thousands of masks flying out of my sewing room, let me admit that I make rather complicated masks, and each one takes a couple of hours to make, so I’m lucky to “crank out” three a day! And when people see my pictures of them, they ask me to make them one. Note to self: stop posting mask photos on … Continue reading

Happy Birthday to Jill!

One of my closest friends during the second half of the eight years I lived in Tucson was a wonderful woman named Jill. We’ve kept in touch since I left, and occasionally she appears in my dreams and I wake thinking I need to go back for a visit. Last week, in the midst of the COVID-19 self-isolation, I picked up a birthday card for her during a frantic grocery run. When I got home, I realized the envelope was not with the card. There was no way I was going back to the grocery store, into that anxiety-filled pandemonium. … Continue reading

It’s All About the Fabric

I made a bag for my friend Ellen’s Whovian daughter, Esther, three-and-a-half (!!!) years ago. Ellen and I had lunch a couple of weeks ago and she told me Esther’s bag was worn out from being loved to death. She asked if I could make the same bag again for Esther. The fabric I used for the first bag was an “Exploding Tardis” print. I had just a little Tardis fabric left over from the previous make and wondered what bag pattern would work with that amount of fabric. I settled on the Greta Wristlet Clutch from Teresa Lucio Designs, … Continue reading

A New Tote for a New Niece

When I found my half-sister, Debbie, back in March of 2016, when she was 80 and I was 65, I was welcomed with open arms by her entire extended family. I flew to northern Arizona six weeks later to meet Debbie face-to-face, and also got to meet both her daughters. Cindy, who is about seven years younger than I, lives with her mom. Cathy, about five years younger than Cindy, who lived in Orange County, CA, at that time, drove to Arizona that Saturday to spend Mother’s Day with her mom and sister. A year later, Cathy’s daughter and her … Continue reading

Handmade Fabric, Handmade Bag

The first person Jas introduced me to after we met was one of his closest friends, a woman who shibori-dyed fabrics and made beautiful contemporary art quilts from those fabrics. Her creations are pretty stunning, as you can see if you check out her portfolio. She and her husband invited us to dinner at their beautiful home this past Saturday night. She graciously told us just to bring wine, as she knows that I do not pride myself in my cooking. So I knew I had to make something. A number of years ago, when cleaning out her studio to … Continue reading