I Made Something Out of It

I did a post back in October about our family motto, "I'm gonna make somethin' out of that!" It's pretty much a generic excuse any time you want to add to the crafty stash, do some dumpster diving or go on an all out thrift store/auction/rummage sale binge. No matter what piece of crap you pick up, you can always make something out of it.

Well, hold your hats, ladies, I actually made something out of one of my purchases. This may be shocking, but I cut into three fat quarters last weekend. I think I've also talked about fat quarters before, but since I know I have a few non-sewing friends who read this, fat quarters are 18x22" pieces of fabric that you can collect, much like sock yarn. Only they're worse because you can usually find them on sale for $1 so you can easily justify a whole big bag of them. Anyway, last summer I picked up three of these little gems and added them to the fabric stash and I actually took them out and cut them up. They only marinated for nine months. Shocking, no?

Saucy Little Summer Bag
Pattern: Simplicity Bags Sewing Patterns for Dummies 4670, View C
Materials: metal handles for JoAnn's Clearance aisle, fabric from the stash - outside is a heavier decorator fabric, inside and tops are quilting fabric
Dates: 6-7 May 2006
Recipient: Greedy little me
Notes: I pretty much made the bag as stated in the pattern, although I made some mistakes in reading the pattern, of course. Guess that means I'm not fully ready for Patterns for Dummies yet. The handles are a little larger than called for which may be why the top was a little difficult to sew. That and I couldn't figure out how to put my zipper foot on the new machine, yeah, dummy, I know. Anyway, great bag for summer. It's big enough to fit a file folder with the latest draft of your diss chapter and a small book. Of course, I don't read small books and I'm certainly not going to walk around with a big ol' copy of Thackeray in there, but theoretically it could work. So far I like the metal handles and can fit them over my arm but we'll see what happens when it gets a little warmer and those puppies are less than pleasant to the touch.

Wouldn't that circle fabric be the perfect lining the Wobbly Circles Tote from Spring 06 IK that's popular now? And you know, if I would just hurry up and finish my fair isle bag, I have leftover yarn that would work... because I need a new project and all...