Out of chaos, order... and a hoop bag!

 

The true story of a girl and her pants

Once upon a time there was a pair of pants. They were not quite green and not quite gray. They were awesome. They belonged to a girl, and they made her look good.

The girl and her pants went everywhere together. They worked together, played together, hung out on the couch and watched TV together. The pants and the girl were happy.

But slowly, over time, things began to change. The girl and her pants were not quite a perfect fit anymore. To be fair, it wasn't really the pants that had changed. But the girl was growing in new directions.

For a while, the pants hung in the girl's closet, hoping to be brought back out again some day. The girl too hoped to once again fit into the pants. Every so often, she'd pull them out and try to squeeze into them, then sadly return them when they didn't work out. Finally, one sad day, the girl put them in the "to donate" bag.

Fortunately, before she actually got around to giving away the pants, the girl remembered two posts she had seen about making bags. She was sure she could turn those old favorite pants into something new!

So she cut and she sewed. The back pocket turned into a front pocket. The legs turned into one long strap.

A side pocket turned into a back pocket.

With a fun lining, things were complete.

The girl may have changed, but now so had the pants. They had become an awesome mini messenger bag!

And the girl and her pants-bag lived happily ever after. 

THE END

Hooray for Giveaway Day!

It's time once again for Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day! As usual I'm offering something I've made along with some supplies. I know you blog hoppers have a lot of ground to cover today so here's the goodies:

1 made-by-me Hummingbird wristlet

AND 

1 charm pack (42 5" precut squares) of Sherbet Pips

The wristlet is from a Keyka Lou pattern and is currently my favorite thing to sew. I've made a few for the shop but this one is just for the giveaway! It's padded a bit so it works as a camera case or just as a cute little essentials bag. Also, I recently won some Sherbet Pips and thought I'd share the love!

  

All you have to do to have a chance to win is this: leave me a comment. Any comment. A nice one preferably. Perhaps about what you'd put in the wristlet and/or what you'd make with the charm pack.

Want a second chance? Just like me on facebook, then come back and leave a separate comment telling me you've done so. Pretty easy peasy, huh?

I'll choose one winner at random from all the comments on or around May 25th, then get the prizes sent out right away. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great giveaway day!

UPDATE: Comments now closed to pick winner. Thanks everyone!

Little Bags

It all started when I saw Milky Robot's bag. Then MrsMcPorkchop's. I had to make my own!

The design is so cute! I love the looping straps...

the velcro inside...

the back pocket.

I think they're perfect either as a little camera case or just as a cute wristlet for carrying essentials when you're on the go.

The pattern is from Keyka Lou, you can get it and make your own. OR if you you want, you can save yourself the trouble and just snatch one up from my shop.

Summer's Over

I'm always a bit sad to see the end of summer. Partly because I know I will miss the warm weather, partly because the reminder of another season going by makes me think of all the things I wanted to accomplish in that time (and didn't get to). All in all, though, it was a great summer. I got to see fireworks on my anniversary, had out-of-state friends and family come to visit, and even managed to get everyone's schedules aligned for a weekend family getaway. I also got to craft a lot. Here's a few projects I completed to round out the summer:

This Good Folks fabric seemed just right for a colorful tiered skirt. (Easy tutorial here.) At first I wanted to make it for myself, but then I decided it would be more suitable for a younger friend of mine. She loves it! Ah, to be ten again, wearing a fun, twirly skirt!

I also worked on some zipper pencil pouches for the shop. Birdies are so sweet! I love both this paint-by-number bird fabric (Moda Uptown) and the Tufted Tweets line by Laurie Wisbrun.

Also discovered that amigurumi is a great craft for a road trip! Ever since I made my Ami Bunny she was waiting for a Mama; this second bun went together in just a couple hours (and fit so nicely into the car's cupholder). I'll have to remember to bring this kind of crochet project along next time we do a road trip; it was so satisfying to have something finished by the time we got home (and it kept me from being too sad about the vacation being over, too).

That's a couple more things off my project list, but I better get cracking to get some more done before the end of the year. The colder weather has got me back into the knitting groove, and I'm hoping to finish a quilt before the snow flies!

Bye, Summer. See ya next year.

Pouches for Pals

The little bags I made for my niece and nephew started me off making a string of zipper pouches. These four were made for my last weekend's reunion with old friends, some of whom I hadn't seen for over two years! The idea was to make something personalized for each of the girls while still somewhat coordinating the fabric to connect the gifts together.


The fabrics are Amy Butler and Joel Dewberry. I filled the bags with some little goodies (Bath & Body Works loot and chocolates), but the girls seemed especially happy to each have a custom-made bag. Before the weekend was over they were showing me how the bags had become makeup kits and purse organizers. Hopefully whenever they use them it will make them think of me and our fun weekend together. :-)


It's so much fun making something to give to someone else! How about you, what is the end result of your crafting? Is it more often for yourself, for gifts, or for sale?

Monkey Business

I happen to really like monkeys. All kinds of monkeys. But especially sock monkeys.

You know who else is into sock monkeys? My niece and nephew. We made some fun stripe-y ones together one time.

In carrying on the sock monkey love, I've made two pouches to fill with goodies and give to my niece and nephew. Here they are: (The pouches, not the kids. The kids are even cuter!)


Here's the two pouches together. You can see a hint here of the fun polka-dots on the inside fabric.


This flat one is for my nephew. I made it using this cool & easy pouch template.


This one is for my niece. She is almost at the age to use it for makeup! I added gussets to make it stand up on its own. (Hope my nephew is not jealous.)

The end. :-)