Aida's Tote Bag of Total Awesomeness

Aida finished her tote bag!!!  Hooray!!!! And it is awesome! 

Aida has been working on this tote bag for months.  I now it seems like years to her, but really only months :). While working on it she had life  go all crazy on her:   job stress, she moved, etc.etc.  You name it. She came to see me when she could on Friday afternoons and we sewed. 

This bag is a testament to perseverance and persistence. She was going to finish it, damnit, if it took her the rest of her life!  So Super Kudos to Aida for sticking with the project that never seemed to end! 

We used my tote bag pattern and lesson.  This bag is made to the exact measurements in the pattern. We followed the pattern almost exactly except for a few additions. 

We added TONS of pockets!!! This bag has two water bottle pockets on the insides. The water bottle pockets have elastic on the top inside hem which holds the bottles in nicely. These pockets are also great for umbrellas, sippy cups, baby bottles,.....

There is a small pocket for her phone and a larger pocket on the other side  big enough to hold a library book!

This is  bag design genius to me: a place for water AND a library book. Sweet!  

View of the inside.  Look at how much space she has!

Here is a close up of the side bottle pockets.  That's a peppy  polka dot lining, isn't it?
Aida picked the polka dots because they made her happy :) :) 

Look at the super cute  lace on the pockets. This was a little bit she had left over from her skirt she made  out of this same material.  We added the lace to the top of the pocket BEFORE applying the bias tape.

We applied interfacing to the  outer body main piece. The fabric is lovely,  soft and  thick but it is a bit floppy. It needed a little bit of body.  By ironing on interfacing to the back of the face fabric, it gives the bag a little more body and structure. It can sit up all  on its own!

The outer material is reversible! She used one side for the main body and pockets of the bag and then used the other side for the straps. 

 We had talked about maybe adding a bottom to the bag, to make it  even more sturdy. She did it! She used a rectangle of Peltex, the super stiff  kind, cut to the dimensions of the bag after the corners were put in.  ironed it onto the bottom inside of the bag and then zig zagged around it to secure it into place. Then she added the lining and hemmed the top. 

The zig zagging barely  shows!

She did change the hem slightly from the pattern.  She folded it down 1/2 and then folded it again about 2 inches. The top hem of her bag is even with where the straps stitching lines are. It makes the bag a touch shorter but it gives it a really cute look on the inside. 

Aida also used this material to make a skirt . Here she  is modeling it.  

She later added lace to the bottom.  It just gives it that little bit of pizazz. 

Great job on your tote bag Aida!!!!

 I can't wait to get a picture of you wearing your skirt carrying your matching tote bag!!!

:) 

I made something I saw on Pinterest!

Yes, I did something I saw on Pinterest!! Yea me! 

I think there should be applause or trumpets or something  that sounds when you do something you see online. They could boast your accomplishment for you.   You could say " Hear that world?  These are the trumpets of productivity proving I am not just sitting here staring at pinterest for hours. "  

My life needs an applause and trumpet button.  Somebody get me one, ok? :)

I made this dress at the beginning of summer but never got around to posting about it.   It was a busy summer! Now that  E is back in school  I have much more quiet computer time. 

Today I have computer time because my car will not start. I am not going anywhere.  I had to cancel my appt with a student  that I was so looking forward to and am  really bummed. Sorry Carolann!! 

So with my new found free time today I will catch up on the blog! :) 

I really wanted to share this dress  because it was my go to dress all summer.  I would literally  pull it out of the dryer and out it on.   It doesn't need ironing or hand washing or any  attention at all. Just wash and wear. It is so comfortable. I love this  fabric - it  very soft.  The elastic makes it super flexible so I could do anything in it.  I wore  it to dinners out, dinners in, play dates, birthday parties, playing on the beach ( the ruffle at the bottom does get  unbelievably  heavy if you misjudge a wave and get wet- just a heads up for ya if you plan on making one and wearing it to the seaside),  going to see bands, end of summer camp programs,  grocery shopping, and   for hanging out at home. Oh and teaching lessons too- My students saw this dress weekly.   Kayla has pointed it out to me a couple of times that I wear this dress a lot on  lesson Saturdays.  :) Yes,  I have worn it most teaching days because it is easy to put on  at 8:30 on  summer Saturday mornings and look like I made effort to get dressed for work. Pulled it right out of the dryer...

Yep. That's Sophie behind me. Just hanging out. Chillin'. 

Here is the inspiration dress:


Isn't it lovely? When I pinned it  I  thought it would be a fantastic dress for summer.  And super easy. When I read the tutorial I realized that the pattern she used for the bodice was very much like  a peasant  top pattern I had for eden. I graded the pattern up to my size, which was gloriously easy: added  to the top of the neckline and sleeves, widened the back & front bodice, lengthened the sleeve and  lowered the armscye. That was it.
 I ordered the same fabric she used in her dress for mine but in black. Of course.  It is a black cotton gauze. It isn't stretchy, but due to the tiny folds in the fabric, it acts stretchy. There is elastic at the neckline, sleeves and where the bodice meets the skirt.

Again,  Sophie is standing behind me.  No pup head shots  at all  in any of these pictures.
 Just side dog. 

I had planned on adding the ruffles on each tier like my inspiration dress but on me, the ruffles just seemed bulky. They didn't look romantic on me. They just kinda made me look fatter.  So I ditched that idea and  just did one longer ruffle at the bottom of the dress.
There are three tiers  in the skirt , I just did not attach the smaller ruffles onto them. The gathering and attaching of the three tiers  and then the bottom ruffle TAKE. FOREVER. Seriously. A fraking long time.    But, I do have to say for this dress, it was totally worth it.  I want to make another one I just have not found the right fabric yet.   For the next dress I am only going to change one thing: I am going to use a different method for  the elastic at the waist. The tutorial says to sew the elastic onto the seam allowance on the inside and I am going to do that.  For this dress, I felt the because the skirt is a little heavy, I needed  a wider elastic. I made a channel out of the bodice seam allowance on the inside. It is ok,  I looks nice, I just want something less visible on the next one.

I love this dress.  Now, in September , it is showing the love. It has faded a bit. I am going to re-dye it black and  wear it all fall and winter.

At the neckline, I used a method from the Kids Peasant Top pattern. I folded the top hem to the inside  then sewed bias tape over that raw edge. I inserted the elastic though the bias tape.  The method gives you a  little ruffle at the top edge and I liked that detail. 

I love this dress  because the elastic keeps the dress close to my body. I can lean over without flashing!

And wow!  can you tell this picture is from the beginning of summer?  That is  one pale  face. :)  :) 

 My student April made this dress too this summer! She was a bit pregnant and wanted a comfy long dress. This fabric has tiny little silver stripes in it and was beautifully thin and breezy.   Doesn't she look lovely for  being almost ready to  have the baby? :)   She also chose to skip the ruffles on the tiers .

April also made a top from the pattern. She used an awesome pink and black plaid .    April decided after making the dress and the top that she was done with gathering and ruffles for a while. Luckily , she had a baby boy so she won't be ruffling any baby clothes.  :)  Baby Dalton is finally here and SO CUTE! He has the most adorable little baby chin you have ever seen :) :

Yea!  A photo with Sophie's face in it- not just her side!