A Tote Bag Making Fool (as opposed to a plain old fool)

I know I was going to post on a more regular basis- I still plan to!  But- you know about the best laid plans....

Everyone loved the tote bags I gave as presents for Christmas.  Needless to say I was pretty proud of myself - and my tote bags.

So I decided to try selling some of them, specially since work is still really slow.  We frequent the feed store to purchase various food stuffs for chickens, squirrels, birds, and of course the dog.  I sewed up some tote bags embroidered with farm animals and pets.  The feed store took them in on consignment 9 days ago.  I have not checked yet to see if any have sold.  (kind of afraid to!)  Here are the ones I have there- except for 2 with horses on them.  I did not get pictures of those two.  I love matching fabrics for the body and the lining with the design I choose to embroider.  They all have something special about them.
 They are indeed "One of a Kind".

Blue canvas duck (like carhart fabric- but prettier) with a floral lining, handles and pocket.

A Crazy Rooster on red cotton with plaid sides, handles and lining.  A red pocket is on the back.
(Not sure if that's the Chicken Dance!)

Everybody loves chickens- or at least they should.
(We sell eggs for $2.00 a dozen)
I used a soft tan bottomweight fabric lined with a pretty floral cotton.  I accented the pocket with the floral fabric and a cute little chick just hatching.  

I didn't get a good picture of the cow design on this.
It's a momma cow with a calf - really cute if you could see it!  This is a chambray material with black and white bias cut stripes on the body of the bag and the pocket, which ties in the cow print lining.
I have a thing about cows.  It's a long story- something to do with a dog in a hat.




Cockadoodle dooo!! This black bag has  "Rooster Morning" embroidered on the side.  A yellow, black and white print forms a large split pocket on the back, the handles and lining.  

Squirrels adorn the front of this berry colored bag.
Blackberries and acorns are on the back next to a pocket that matches the berry print fabric of the lining. We have 3 squirrel feeders and 2 corn cob feeders at our house.  They are so fun to watch.

The last of the ones for sale at the feed store is this chambray tote with kitty cats on the front.  The lining is blue with stripes that match the colors of the felines.  I added a couple striped strips to the pocket on the back.

The New Year has Arrived (and more tote bags)

Well, we made it through New Years.  Pretty quiet, except for my neighbor just up the hill fired off his cannon right after midnight.  It shakes the windows!  And freaks out the dog.  He fires it twice a year: 4th of July and New Years.  I've come to expect it and am disappointed if the kaboom doesn't happen.  It's tradition.


So on with the collection of tote bags I made:

This one is made from hot pink denim and lined with a turquoise pink and green floral print.  All of my bags are stabilized with interfacing.  The butterfly theme is on both sides.  I think it's quite fitting for an 8 year old girl.

I think Raggedy Ann & Andy are perfect for a 6 year old  girl.
These designs came from Designs by Sick

 

   I added a  fancy flower 

next to her name on the back. 

   But my favorite part is the

 Raggedy Ann print I found 

for the lining.   All of the fabrics 

used in this collection of tote bags 

I had on hand.  I dug through my

stash and found pieces of fabric

I had forgotten all about..  What Fun !!

 My 10 year old niece got a peacock.  I love this
design.  The pedestal is silver.  Just a little sparkle.
I used the lining fabric for the handle.  The turquoise is a medium heavy bottom weight fabric. I added a pink swirly design as an accent to the monogram.

Another 10 year old girl got the crazy cats!  This one is from
Kreations by Kara also.  A light denim is lined with a
tan based multi-color floral print.  The colors match the cat
colors, kind of ties it all together.  Little kitty tracks
run next to the monogram on this one.  

I have one young nephew. He is 7 years old.  Not wanting to have him feel left out, I searched for some type of "manly" bag for him.  I found this at Punkin Patterns.  I changed it up a little: Added the brown plaid lining and pocket, and attached an adjustable strap. I even made my own bias tape out of broadcloth I had on hand, since I didn't have any packaged bias tape that was the right color.
I think it looks just Manly enough.   

That is the last of the tote bags I made for Christmas this year.  I had alot of fun making these.  I hope the kids enjoy them, too - And use them!!

No Excuses

I have been terribly neglectful of this site.  I have no good excuse for this.  Could be cause no one else ever sees this but me!  But I am here, now, to finally update this to the current time.  I am not big on News Years resolutions, or I would say I will resolve to keep this site fairly current.  I do enjoy reading other peoples blogs, so maybe someone will enjoy my projects.  I gain inspiration from others, and maybe some of my creations will inspire others.  I have been making gifts- from baby shower to Christmas presents.  I will show you what I have done.  I hope I took pictures of everything before I gave them away!
So here goes...


I am going to be a  "Great-Aunt"  again

My nephew and his wife are expecting their first child.  The baby shower was right before Christmas.  My nephew is a very good soccer player and his wife is quite the runner.  Using an athletic theme, I made a quilt.  Now I am not an experienced quilter.  I know the basics, so that is what I used.  Squares.  No fancy shapes.  But the embroidered sports kids from designsbysick.com make up for it, at least I think so!  We do not know if the baby is a boy or a girl so there is both. 

I drew it out on graph paper first. 
When I started sewing it together,
it grew!  Each square was 6" finished size, so it ended up being about
44" wide and 56" long with the binding.  
The binding was the blue tie-dyed fleece folded over the front from the back.

 There is a layer of batting in between also.  The polka dot fabric is a cotton blend to go with the primary colored squares.  To do the actual "quilting" I stitched around the embroidered squares using a variegated pearl cotton in the bobbin to add a little interest to the blue backing. 

It turned out bigger than a normal baby blanket, but I liked it. 

So did the new mama-to-be.

Baby Blanket #2

I could not resist this monkey print fleece.  It's so happy, and oh so soft.  I made this one regular baby blanket size, and got to use the little ribbon loops around the edge. I think they are so cute and baby likes to play with them.  I left them off of the upper edge so they would not tickle baby's little face!  I turned the outside edge of the fleece up and encased the raw edge in 3/4" yellow ribbon.  The tan and brown ribbon loops are secured with the stitching holding the yellow ribbon on.  Oh so easy! 

The yellow and brown is a perfect color choice for the coming baby.

 Boy or Girl!

On to Christmas Presents

I have 6 children on my Christmas gift list.  I decided to make personalized tote/book bags.  It was alot of fun deciding on fabric & color combinations, and which designs to embroider on them.  Each one was chosen with that child in mind.  So here they are:

A Song for a 14 year old

I was extremely happy with this one.  I wasn't sure of her current hobbies, but I figured music was always in.  And I just loved this embroidery design.  I found it at http://www.secretsof.com/kreationsbykara . Go check out her designs; they are wonderful.

I used black fabric, so I changed the design's colors.  It originally had black music-hair, so I changed it to white and altered the other colors so they stood out on the black.  The handle of the mask is silver.  It was fun to see it stitching out.  I guessed on some colors- but I really like the way it turned out.  

This sheet music print fabric that I used for the 

lining was  a perfect match and tied it all together.

The bag was stabilized  with iron on craft interfacing.  

I squared off the bottom corners so it would stand up.

A self fabric strap handle completes the construction

I chose this blue and red monogram to personalize this one. 

So - What do you think?

A new style of purse - with flowers!

I tried a new style
for a change and
embroidered a
delicate floral design
on one side. It is
fully lined with a
velcro closure.

A few new creations

I found this fabric with
motorcycles on it.
So I made a couple
new Mug Bosses.
The top one has a
denim base.  The
bottom one has navy
fleece underneath.
  What fun!







A new set of napkins!
A pale green with
variegated edging and
pretty flowers on
one corner to match.

Purse, Bags and Totes, Oh My!

It's fun trying to match up fabric colors and textures to make the bags
pretty, unique and eye catching! Plus they are completely functional.

I have made 2
styles, each in
2 sizes. They
are all lined and
 have 1 or 2
inside pockets.

A nice blue
chambray with
lacy overlay and
floral lining.
The black handled
bag has a tropical
theme.
The tan purse has
a vintage lace bag
under soft denim
upper.
The green one has
 faux leather top
with burnished
gold buttons.

A set of 4 napkins
embroidered with
vintage baskets.
They are 18 inches
square. (I made
these for a change
of pace.)

More Mug Bosses

Here are the rest of the mug bosses that are available now.  I have some more cut out, just need to sew them up.  I should have them up soon, hopefully.