custom bag for cathy

Cathy is my best customer. She makes me feel so good about my bags. She’s got a degree in Textiles, is on the board for Sewing for Babies, has tons of sewing experience and chooses ME to make bags for her. Cathy, who sadly is blogless, always has lots of crafty projects going on, so she needs lots of tote bags.

The bag design was a little challenging. With all of the patterns and stripes, I wanted to make sure it wasn’t too busy once it was put together. Once I figured out the handles, though, the rest just worked itself out!

cathy bag

I wanted to do something special for Cathy to show my appreciation for her support, so I made her a coordinating pouch and bookmark. The pouch pattern is from Bend-the-Rules Sewing, so I won’t be selling them. They may find their way into random bags here and there as a little gift, though.

cathy bag

Speaking of custom bags, I’ve donated a bag to Christy’s month of Autism Awareness. She’ll be making a special announcement about the giveaway sometime today. Make sure you visit her blog for the details!

magic slippers

These were a gift, so I had to wait until they were delivered before I could post a pic.

They are a really quick project and a great way to use up those little leftover bits of sock yarn. Well, they’re a quick knit if you count you decreases correctly. I must have had Toddler Brain when I worked on these because I had to rip more than once to get them right. Oh, well. At least there wasn’t much to rip! The only thing I’d do differently next time would be to start at the same color in the yarn so they’d match. Free pattern is from SockPixie.

speaking of clipity clipping…

I don’t have many plants. My thumb is a little on the black side, and any plant I have been able to keep alive has been killed by the cat or a move. The exception: my Target plant. I have no idea what kind it is, but a quick google search leads me to believe it may be a pothos. I do know that it is virtually indestructible. I bought it to keep me company at work back in 1995 or 1996. It’s been through a bunch of offices and a lot of moves. When we finally settled in this house, I put it up on top of the book case and kind of forgot about it. Every once and awhile its leaves would look pale and droopy, and I’d give it a little water, but that was about it.

When my parents came out to visit after M was born, my mom when on a major dusting spree. She wanted to do something for the poor neglected plant. I told her to leave it as it was. It was happy. And it was alive. Don’t mess with a good thing. Well, when we had our new furniture delivered, we moved our bookcases downstairs and I had to deal with it. Good grief! Now I know why my mom was so concerned. It was practically all stem! I clipped off about five leafless branches that were each about two to three feet long. I accidentally got a little too happy with the clipping and cut off a leafy branch. Whoops!

Here it is looking very happy in it’s new home.

plant

Here is the clipping happily hanging out on my kitchen window sill. It’s starting to grow roots!

plant

(Yes, I still have the favor from one of my high school dances.)

bibs for bella

Must. Stop. Sewing. Bibs.

bibs

Seriously! These might be the most addicting things to sew ever! They are so quick and look so cute! Remember my first one? Believe it or not, M has almost outgrown the neck. A lot of her other bibs are getting small, too. I took my favorite bib, which was the template for the first one I made, and adjusted the pattern for a 18-24 month neck.

bibs

I can’t decide which one is my favorite. I love the little aprons and the salt and pepper shakers.

I really have to stop. How many bibs does one little girl need? We only use them for messy foods these days, like spaghetti and split pea soup. But these are great fabric stash busters: fleece was from the remnant basket at Joann’s and the fabric and snaps were from Michaels (thank you 40% off coupons!). Oh, did I mention the snaps?

bibs

button flowers

Remember when I had the button notecard idea that wouldn’t go away until I made them? Well, I had another one: button flowers. I don’t know where these bursts of button creativity come from. I’m not even that much into embroidery, but loved hand stitching the little stems and leaves. This idea wouldn’t stop bouncing around in my head so I put them on something small and easy to finish: a felted bookmark.

bookmark

bookmark

bookmark

my first clothing alteration

M had these comfy Gap pants that I picked up from a yard sale, but they were really bulky. She’s pretty long and skinny and these were definitely cut for a chubbier toddler. The other day I decided to fix them. After all, they only cost me like a dollar or something. What was the worst that could happen if I screwed them up?

pink pants

I took a pair of pants that I knew fit her well, laid them on top and traced them like a pattern onto the larger pants. Then I sewed two new seams and cut the excess fabric and pockets off. It’s not the neatest alteration in the world, but they look MUCH better on her. I can only imagine they feel better, too.

pink pants

They’re still a little big overall, and I have a feeling she’ll get a lot of use out of them this Spring.