Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my sister today! She has taken up yoga, so I made her a yoga mat bag for a present. After looking around online for fresh inspiration, I revised my pattern. I like the extra color of a handle made out of fabric instead of cotton webbing. It's stabilized and anchored in the bottom seam for strength. Instead of insetting the zippered pocket, I stitched the whole she-bang to the outside for more color. A cast-off shoelace from the IDEA Store draws through grommets to close the bag.

Almost Summer

It's almost summer and time to get the end-of-year teacher gifts organized. It's a little cheesy, but I'm planning to package thank-you gift cards in fabric pouches this year. I went the literal route for fabric choice. One teacher is a photographer; one just finished a library degree and one I guessed on.

Shower Baskets

My brother and sister-in-law expect a baby boy very soon. I know the nursery has a giraffe on the wall, so I'm going with the theme to wrap up gifts for the baby shower. Maybe someday one of these baskets will be featured in a family scrapbook snapshot of my young nephew wearing a bucket on his head. In the meantime, diapers, p.j.s, board books and the many baby whatnots can be stashed.

A Pirate's Lunch

It can be tricky to find fabric that works for a man. More accurately, I don't spend much time thinking about fabric that would work for a man because I usually buy just what appeals to me. My friend T wanted a cover for his iPad made from pirate fabric. I found a print on Etsy, and made the item for him. Now, with the scraps, I've made an insulated lunch tote for T to take to work. The pattern is from www.sewmamasew.com and calls for a French-seamed lining to extend beyond the exterior of the bag to form a drawstring closure. I worked in as much of the pirate fabric as I had left, along with a red shoelace from The IDEA Store to prove I really do need to buy random items "I may someday use".