Having not been a regular blogger as of late I have no excuse, but will offer a few, we are remodelling our home, adding 1400 sq ft, I have started 3!!! parttime jobs (sewing instructor, substitute teacher and working at Dad's pool hall) to my already crazy life and taken back up a hobby that I have had off on since I was a kid, I have been sewing. Alot.
I decided that a New Years Resolution might be to blog once a week about a project that I have completed, hopefully that will get me back in the 'blogging groove' and I can start boring you with all the stuff that I find interesting. Cross your fingers.
The picture I am sharing today is of the the Tote Bag I made for Seth to give his teacher. We have been blessed this year to get Laura Warbritton as his Kindergarten teacher. While I believe that all of the options on the Kindergarten team are great, I was thrilled to end like we started (Cody had her as well!) Laura and I have kinda gotten to be friends, between the 10 yrs since she had Cody, her son Alex (aka to the kids Bob) and Cody both play football, we follow the boys to many a game. Laura has started sewing, so we have been known to hang out with the 'cool kids' at Material Girl Quilt Shop. And of course my many years of being a room mom or various other volunteer at Chance Elementary has offered us occasion to get to know each other. I feel blessed that this woman is in my sons life, she's not only his teacher, but one of his biggest fans (she gets his humor! YIKES!) I know that she really loves her little students and makes the beginning of their school career a special one. Thank you so much Laura!
Now a little about the bag. I have become a big fan of Moda Fabrics thanks to the influence of my good friend Meredith, owner of the local quilt shop, Material Girl Quilt Shop (another plug for you sister!) Moda has a wonderful blog called Moda Bake Shop. (go check it out sometime, its WONDERFUL!!! GOBS of FREE PATTERNS!!) I have been visiting the Bake Shop for quite some time and last summer I found a great tutorial for the 'Charming Tote' its based off of one of Moda's precut fabric packs, the 'Charm Pack' The size of your tote is based on the amount of charms you use on a side. Very basic construction and goes together in a snap. The first one I made was more of a purse size with 9 charms on a side, I have made them with 12, 16 and even 20 on a side. This is a simple purse that I have made over and over. It looks cute everytime. I have discovered magnetic snaps that can be purchased at Jo-Ann fabrics. The brand name is Everything Mary. They are available in many sizes and colors. The company also makes other purse accessories and findings from 'feet' for the bottoms of purses to lanyard hooks. They are reasonably priced as well. The fabric series from Moda is called 'Punctuation' by American Jane Patterns, Sandy Klop designer, most of her fabrics have a home-y feel to me, she had a cute camping series a few years ago, just something about the fabrics remind me of growing up.
I taught my version as a basic tote at my Beginners Sewing Class last week. Had one student make hers into a diaper bag for her niece. For anyone interested, I teach these classes at least once a month and am open to doing private classes for groups of three or more. I am planning our January class right now, which is tenatively scheduled for Jan 16th, 2pm to 5pm and the project will be placemats or a table runner. Please feel free to contact me on here, via facebook or email or of course you can give me a call if you are interested.
Again I say Happy 2011 enjoying the warmth of our home while looking out at the sunny, but cold New Years Day outside,
From Tulip~
KH
:)
