Something for the grands.........

When I gave our daughter her Sling Along Bag Nora loved it and so she called me and asked me to make her a bag.  It is way too expensive to make that bag (I'm going to write a break down of costs post on that next week) but I said I would make her another bag and asked her what she wanted on it and she said owls.

Remember the post from yesterday and the owl fabric?  I decided to get some of that.

When I went to the store they didn't have any in the teal colour, just yellow and red.  I chose the yellow owls, which turns out to be a drapery fabric, which is quite canvas in feel.  Luckily it was on sale for 50% off, but still cost $16.00 a metre.  Now as you know I have six grandchildren; the youngest nearly 1 years old and the other's between nearly 3 to 6 years of age.  When I make something for one I make for all of them.  So as there are two boys in amongst the six I knew the yellow owls wouldn't work, so picked up the fish print and I picked up the green as lining.  They were on sale for $10 a metre.  Those two fabrics are indoor/outdoor fabrics.  All fabric was from Fabricland.

 So what did I make for the five eldest, Kid's Messenger Bags.  I used this pattern but will give you a couple of suggestions and ideas.  The owl ones are for the two eldest girls.  The fish ones are for the two youngest girls and Sammy.  I did not make one for the baby.

 Super cute eh?  A perfect size for a child.  I used cotton webbing which I get from DailyLike Canada  for the straps.

 Now one thing I did differently was due to the fact I had directional prints and I didn't want my owls or fish being upside down on the back of the bag which would have happened if I had only cut one piece of material for the exterior, as it says in the instructions.   I cut two pieces of fabric which were 12 inches wide by 9 inches high; instead of 12 inches wide by 17 inches high.  9 inches high to take into account for the 1/2 inch seam allowance.

Now despite me doing this I still managed to sew one panel upside down😔  Luckily the front flap covers it, so you don't notice.  I put in magnetic snaps in three of the bags.

 Although I didn't, you could add inside pockets very easily.

 In two of the bags, I added buttons for closure.  As Sam and Jeina are getting the same print bag, I added a bird button to Jeina's so it's different.  The owl one with the silver button is for Nitara.

This is a fun project, BUT my poor machine was not happy sewing through the many layers especially when sewing the inner and outer bags together where the seams and handles are.  I used a heavy duty Jeans needle because if the weight of the fabric.  

This pattern could be sized up no problem and I have a few ideas on what else I could do with it.  

50 cent challenge........

We have a fabric store called Fabricland here in Canada.  I was looking for some zippers the other day so had to go there.  I think I have mentioned before but they have bags of odds and ends of fabric and notions for 50 cents.  I picked up two and I set myself a challenge to see what I could make with them.

This is the first bag:

 This is what was in it.  Love the owl fabric, more of a canvas type of fabric.

Here is what I have made so far using the scraps of material.  Sunglasses case, using the owl fabric which was canvas, with the yellow interior.  The heads were partly cut off the top row of the owls 😠

 Barbie outfit using the lace/net, the strip of watermelon fabric, the rest of the yellow, part of the elastic and the blue ribbon.

Another skirt made with the watermelon fabric with ribbon trim.

 A tiny change purse made for grand daughter so she can carry some change when at summer camp.

 Another sunglasses case.  The outside of the fabric was a scrap of canvas I had on hand, the inner fabric though is from the bag.

So all in all a lot of things from this bag and still have a little fabric left.  I will post what I did with the second bag in a few days.

(I WENT AND BOUGHT SOME MORE OWL FABRIC BUT IN A DIFFERENT COLOUR, AS THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY OF THE TEAL LEFT, I'LL POST WHAT I MADE WITH IT IN A COUPLE OF DAYS!!)

Those 50 cent bags from Fabricland........

are really handy, and I am loving them.  Made a couple more things with some of the things from them.

I think in total I got 12 of the 50 cent bags that I talked about here.  Divided up amongst the bags were all these beads, and "button's."  The group of "buttons" in the top left of the photo, I actually have an idea on how to use them........

 I decided to make a necklace for Nora using all the beads and some elastic thread.

She loves to wear necklaces.  Her mother will trim up the elastic when she gets it.

There was also a piece of organza type material in one.  I cut that in half, got some cheap craft ribbon and thread and decided to make produce bags.  I only have one left from when I made some in 2008, which I blogged about here.

 I cut some pieces of ribbon longer than the width of the material.  Turned over the shorter edge and sewed a pocket wide enough so the ribbon could go through it.  Did the same on the other end as well.

Sew up both side seams, I just used a straight stitch.

I then took my pinking shears and trimmed the edges.  Tied a knot in the ribbon to join them.

Turned them right side out and there you have it, two produce bags in less than half an hour.

They are washable.  They could be made with any scraps of netting, tulle or organza.  The key to this project is to use a light weight fabric, so not to add extra weight and so the cashier can see the produce codes.  The finished sizes of these bags are around 10 inches wide by 12 inches long.

Simple, easy and good for the environment!

Another Barbie dress, made with more material from the bags:

Then dh bought some Forearm Forklift straps from Canadian Tire and needed a bag to put them in:

Both material and cording came from one of the bags.  By the way the Forearm Forklift straps got a 10 out of 10 from dh, as he along with son and son-in-law were moving a washer and dryer and the boys said it made life a lot easier using them.