Kool Aid jammer beach bag fun!

Someone at work mentioned she had attempted to sew juice pouches and kept breaking needles.  I happily offered to make her the bag she couldn’t make herself.  So I sat down to construct a bag and liked it so much I made myself one too!

It’s absolutely ginormous and can hold everything you need to head to the beach/park/swimming.  I’ve carried mine back and forth to work, swimming with the kids and yes, to the beach!  It’s great for things that are wet, like your water bottle that gets all condensation-y, or your wet swim stuff.  I used black nylon for the straps and I made them really big, I bought about a  metre/yard and just cut it in half to make 2 straps.

Another tote complete . . . many months later.

So I finally managed to finish my tote I’d been working on for ages. Now that I’ve been sewing more and more things I got some ideas on how to finish it well. I was going to do things a certain way but now I’ve discovered much better ways to go about it. It’s actually a squarish bag but I didn’t use interfacing (in hindsight I should have) so it’s a tad floppier than it should be. It was a great use of some fun scraps and I love the vintage doily touch.

There’s a pocket inside with 3 compartments and then there’s one big one on the back. I’m sure it will be super useful! Now I just have to find time to use it with my growing collection of totes and bags.

The rocking factor of my bff.

Oh it’s high let me tell you! She ordered some fabric from poppyseed fabrics on etsy and said a surprise was coming for me too. It finally arrived and today for our Tuesday night together she brought it out. It’s some beautiful Michael Miller prints. She ordered enough to make the Keyka Lou bag and some fat quarters.

These ones are for me *little happy dance*  Trees AND giraffes, I love it.

Now to find something I can make with them.

Sew spoiled tote cut out (finally).

Still lagging behind the group’s schedule on this one BUT I did manage to get all my pieces cut out. I’ve got 2 bags on the go right now, both of which I’m supposed to be sewing with a someone else but I keep thinking, ‘oh I’ll just do one more step’. I’m just too itchy to do a new to me project right now. So here’s what I’ve got so far.

And a closer view of my prints.

I’m going to go sew the pleats, just the pleats.

Tote #1 finished . . . .5 months later!

Remember this? That I was soooo excited about? Yeah, it’s been sitting neglected in my craft area all this time. That’s a little embarassing. Last night, for a change from taggie blankies and juice pouch totes, I picked it up and finished the little sucker.

The handles are made from a belt I thrifted and the main white fabric with the brown plantlike print was on crazy sale for $3 for a big huge remnant. I love the little detail of the brown inner fabric peaking out at the top. I’m pretty happy with the results considering it was my first attempt.

Sew Liberated, and some cute shoes too!

Wesley went to a March Break camp today for half the day, which is kinda funny since he doesn’t go to school so it’s not really March Break for him.  But it is for me!!  So I took Nate to the mall, where we somehow managed to waste the entire 3 hours.  Had enough time to pick up some lunch and retrieve Wesley at noon.

I went to the mall for new running shoes.  Which I found . . . . along with a new sewing book and another pair of shoes, and some sale items at Old Navy.   It was a productive and eventful morning.

This is the pile of juice pouches my cousin saved for me, thanks to her 6 year old’s sleepover this weekend!

When I got home from enjoying some time at the park with the kids the mail had arrived.  There were 2 fun things!  Greetings from one of my Happy Mail pals and some fun gifts from Peptogirl, once again.

When we got home at noon I brought up a bunch of stuff to do in the kitchen while Nate napped, but I did other stuff and then we went to the park.  So  now to get cutting all this fabric for taggie blankies and crayon cozies!

These are the running shoes I picked up, which I’m beginning to think I liked because subconsciously they reminded me of my slippers.  Note the well worness of the slippers compared to the shiny newness of the runners.

Juice pouch jackpot! Or however you say that in German.

Here’s my stash of juice pouches from the trip! Not sure why they’re in German since we were in Spain . . .

I can’t wait to make myself a little bag that, hopefully, no one around here will have!

Juice pouch tote? Check!

I finally had time to run to the sewing machine and finish off my juice pouch tote attempt #1.  I’m really happy with it.  It took 17 pouches to make, 4 on each side, 5 to go around the sides and 1 for each handle.  I sewed it all together with a zigzag stitch and attached the handles with just a straight stitch.

I’m going to get to work planning a messenger bag or something for my laptop.

My first tote!!!

Ok, well it’s not quite finished yet but I’m crazy excited about what I have so far!!

I have a bag/tote addiction.  Which is sort of crazy since I hate carrying purses, but since growing up (or at least reaching an age where I *look* grown up) I’ve started carrying something with me.  Well that and having kids, now I’ve got to have things with me even if I have the diaper bag! Etsy was an addiction for a little bit, I absolutely love this lady’s bags.  I own 3 of her bags, 1 was even custom made for me, I feel so special. I try not to check her site too often, I just want it all!!

I’ve become inspired by her style and started to design my own bags.  This is the first one I’ve actually got to sewing.  I’ve got a stash of fabric I’ve been collecting for almost a year. The teal coloured pocket is actually a dishcloth I found on clearance. The strap I have set aside was a thrift store find, currently it’s a belt but that will change. There’s a panel on the back with 2 pockets, lined in a different colour even!   I’m so proud.  Perhaps tonight I’ll have a chance to sew the lining.   Fingers crossed, I might even get to put the strap on and sew it together!