FO: Here we go bag

Kids back to school, feet up. In the name of displacement actitivities (I am so bad at just waiting) and in between granny napping, I finished my changing bag. I used the "Here We Go Bag" pattern from Anna Maria Horner's Handmade Beginnings book and stash fabric.

I used to have an old rucksack as a changing bag so it feels fun to have such a smart new one. The size of the bag attracted me to the pattern plus it has side and internal pockets and an inside divider. I hate just having one huge bag in which everything gets jumbled up and which I have to tip up to find my phone or keys. I started making the bag before Christmas and just had a small bit of finishing off to do over the past two weeks. With all the parts the pattern seemed confusing at first but once I worked through it, it became much clearer and the bag went together faster than I had expected. I would recommend this pattern, it is nice and straightforward and gives you lots of options for different ways to put it together. There are lots of opportunities to use up fairly small fabric remnants in this pattern which was fun.

For the main part I used some dark denim from the Rag Market as I wanted something hardwearing and not likely to show too much dirt. I lined it with some left over Amy Butler fabric, which also was used for the handles and also with some tea cup fabric. I used more dark denim for the central divider to try and have a fairly rigid divider. Then I used my final scraps of apple fabric to make the top edging and the side pockets. I made three internal pockets of varying sizes. The bag also has a matching (yes, co-ordinated, I know get me!) changing mat from the Amy Butler fabric which rolls up inside.

The only addition to the bag is that I am going to put a magnetic popper inside it to keep it closed.

Cat in Bag

It was my children's little friend's 5th birthday and it snowed last week. I didn't want to drive to the shops so I made a toy cat using the "Pointy Kitty" free pattern download from Wee Wonderfuls .

It was very quick to do, I started it on monday night and finished it friday night but I only get odd bits of time for sewing. As stated in the pattern, the legs and ears and tail are a bit fiddly at turning out. I then made a bag for the cat so she can be carried around. I made the bag at 7am on saturday in a slightly insane sleep deprived state....we were due to visit the friends at 9.30 that morning. It was still quite dark when I finished it as it was another gloomy day so most of my photos were too dark to use. I had some lovely thick denim fabric that I bought at a market a couple of years ago and used that to make a simple bag with two handles. I sewed on some yo-yos made before christmas. It was a success, the only problem came when my daughter tried to take it back from her friend when it was time to leave. She has a way to go to learn about present giving.