totes

i counted, and i made 15 of these for christmas presents. it’s nice to have a pattern down, that whips out fast and doesn’t cause you any trouble. but i still don’t want to make any more for quite a while.

i like the idea of attractive, reusable, shopping bags. the dimensions are 17″ wide, 14 1/2″ tall with a 3″ gusset and 11 1/2″ handles.  i lined these ones and made them reversible. by the way, i used this tutorial and it was a breeze.) i had such a fun time picking out the fabric too. the black pair went to my sister violet, and the green went to my sister sarah.

then i made up some green and red ones for my aunt and mother-in-law and a hodge podge assortment of others.

other than that, i’m just kind of glad christmas is over. time to get ready for baby. two more months!

some late night sewing

at 1:00 in the morning one isn’t too concerned with blogging. but i was sad to send my bag off to the mailman without so much as a parting shot. so i threw it on the stove (the only clean spot) and took it’s picture.

i was mostly excited about how it turned out because it was just an old shirt of my mother’s. i used some of the scrappy bits to make a matching sachet with my favorite mix; lavender, spearmint, chamomille, rose buds and a dash of spearmint, essential oil (it’s made of sterner stuff to hold the flavor).

i think it’s fun to have matching sachets for your purse. that way when you reach for your keys, rushing out the door, you get a whiff of something good. purses are pretty much disasters otherwise (a bottomless pit, presumably containing keys, but it’s hard to say for sure. they should at least smell good while you waste all that time looking.)

anyways, now it’s off to another hard day of shopping. i also have to try my hand at a children’s apron for a christmas party tonight. so i’ll show you how that goes tomorrow.

(sigh. i can’t wait to go to my mother-in-law’s for christmas. so i can veg out on the couch all day, crochet and watch clint eastwood while she makes me food. mmm.)