Crafting Wins Out Over Football (at least this weekend...)

After this debacle, I decided to dedicate more of my time to crafting this weekend and less to football. What it amounted to was that I sewed while I watched (while pinning, cutting, etc.). I can't go cold turkey but after watching my Aggies get humiliated by a mediocre Miami team (so what does that make us, exactly?), I sure wasn't as enthusiastic as usual.

Anyhoo, the result was that I finished this bag, destined to be a birthday present for a friend. If it looks a tad familiar, that's because I used the leftover fabric from making my last Nappy Bag. I used this tutorial over at tiny happy. The bag turned out quite a bit larger than I'd have liked, so I'll be sure to tweak it a bit before I used it again. I already cut 6 (yes, 6!) inches off of the strap because it was much too long for my taste. If and when I make another, I'll take a couple inches off of the width as well (and probably narrow the straps).

I didn't end up following the directions very closely at all. In fact, I pretty much followed the directions for the Nappy Bag (as remembered by my cluttered brain). The difference was that rather than leave the opening for turning the bag right side out in the bottom of the lining (as the tutorial suggested) or turning through the straps (as per the Nappy Bag directions), I chose to leave the opening at the top opening of the bag (where you can see my button loop coming out). I then topstitched around the opening and strap, which allowed me to sew in my button loop as well as closing the openings at the straps.

Not sure if any of that made sense, so let me know if you have questions. Here is another pic of the inside of the bag. I just love this fabric!

After completing the bag (except for finding a cute button and sewing it on!) I cut out my next project, which is a birthday present for my sister. I'll have to keep that one close to the vest until after October 12th.

Upcoming projects:

1. A cape for my son, who is going to be some kind of superhero for Halloween.
2. A Thomas the Tank Engine tote bag for my cousin's little boy's birthday.
3. A button-front skirt from grey corduroy (Looking for the perfect pattern for this one. I found the fabric at Walmart and it begged me to be made into a button-front A-line skirt!).
4. Zippered pouches from scrap fabric for miscellaneous gifts.

Whew, I'd better get busy!

(OK, I think this post wins the award for most parentheses, sorry!)