Classy Cook Aprons: A Happy Ending

Remember the warning about unfolding fabric I gave you guys? Well, this "Ooops" has a happy ending: look at the spiffy new apron made from the fabric I sold!

Bev at Classy Cook Aprons purchased my fabric and made it into this very classy apron. Still not a fan of skulls, but I must say, the apron looks nice. Her work is all very cute! Lots of funky aprons in her shop. Check them out!

Happy Monday!!
-Carolyn

Drawstring Project Bag Pattern

For some odd reason, I got tired of shoving my project into the diaper bag I now carry in place of a purse. And though my amazing Aunt custom made the diaper bag for me, there were only so many pockets she could include. A project quadrant just wasn't going to happen.

So the big question became: Do I tangle the project by shoving it into the diaper bag, or do I take another large bag out with me? I, for some reason, own zero small, manageable bags.

Guess what? I decided to make some.

And this one is the first! I scored the blue floral fabric at an epic thrift store score back in Utah and have been planning on bag-ifying it since I saw it. I trolled and trolled Pinterest for the right bag pattern (and the right cookie recipe and the right homemade cleaning product and the right chalkboard...you know how it is) and came across this pattern from Sew Serendipity. It's a lunch bag pattern that was being offered for free by Sew Mama Sew and I knew it was right.

I did a few minor adjustments (namely to the handle) but for the most part kept the bag as it was. The pattern makes a very very nice, roomy project bag without being hugemonsterous.

I opted for a single sided handle in order to make the bag more clip-to-the-diaper-bag friendly, but you can do whatever you want. I don't care. I'm not the boss of you.

I feel kinda fancy with the wooden beads on the draw ties. I was thinking about NOT putting them on because for some reason I was feeling particularly anti-hardware at the time, but I'm so glad Other-Side-of-My-Brain convinced me otherwise. The look so nice! And professional. And stuff. Unlike those last few sentences.

Yeah, I don't actually use those knitting needles, they are more for show. Big long wooden needles look better in pictures than my tangley circulars I enlist for every project. More rustic.

Straight needles are rustic?

Hush. Agree with me. You know I'm right.

My thoughts on the pattern:
-Go with a med-light Peltex on the outer body of the bag if you are using thick fabric like me.
-The strap is very customizable. I could even see this as having two straps for a weirdy cute little backpack!
-Gathering the drawstring segment made that part a bit unmanageable to sew. In the end, I measured (read: completely guessed on) some pleats to ease the top into the bag.
-It's AMAZING that all the seams are enclosed. Nothing is more lovely in a pattern to me than a project that effortlessly encloses all the seams.
-Also, you don't have to turn the draw strings. Because, why should you be subject to that torture? I just ironed them out like bias tape and sewed them shut with some edge stitching.
-Oh, and I didn't include interfacing on the lining. Because I'm a rebel and believe that if you can leave out interfacing, do.

I'm going to be making quite a few more of these, I think. They are quite quick once you get all the pieces cut out! I've actually already finished one other one!

Happy Tuesday!!
-Carolyn

Unfold the Fabric: A Public Service Announcement from Last in Line

Once upon a time there was a girl named Carolyn and she went shopping. She went shopping in a big city while her husband was busy at a meeting. She felt proud of her ability to drive a large van around the big city and not hit anyone or anything. She was also proud of her ability to write out directions for herself to the places she wanted to shop.

Burning with all this pride, Carolyn set out to +CraftyPlanet to see what she could find. To her joy, she found a cute shop filled to the gills with cute fabric. She decided to buy a lot of it.

She mostly bought fat quarters: some plaid, some raccoons, some polkadots, some flowers. Then a section of bagged yards of fabrics caught her eye. There was some very pretty colors all folded up in those glossy little ziplocs. Maybe she should buy a yard! Make something bigger!

So, carefully, she selected a color pallet that suited her. Then Carolyn wondered, "Should I open the bag and unfold the fabric?" She could only see a small section of the pattern from the way it was folded, but she really liked what she saw. All paisley and filigree. Not wanting to be THAT customer who opens up packages and makes everyone angry, she decided to just buy the stuff.

And that's just what she did.

Fast forward a year (A YEAR??), Carolyn got pregnant, moved out West, had the baby, moved back, and finally settled in to a new, more permanent apartment with her little family. The bagged fabric came out West, but sat untouched. The bagged fabric came back to the Midwest, but sat untouched. Until two weeks ago when at long last, Carolyn decided to take stock of her fabric stash and plan projects for what she had amassed.

With joy, images of cute sleeping shorts and pillow cases danced in her mind as she at last unfolded the fabric to find:

 Skulls.

So many skulls staring back at her with their dead, flowery eyes. Carolyn is not a fan of skulls. Not at all. And her dislike of them is strengthened when she is expecting a lovely floral pattern to pervade the fabric she bought long ago.

Had the selvedge been showing, surely the name of the fabric alone would have put her off. But no. No such luck had she. Let this be a lesson to her and all crafters of her kind:

Always unfold the fabric.

My mistake is your gain, if you are into skull fabric. I listed the yard on my Etsy. You can find the listing here! I am hoping it finds a happy new home where it'll be used for a great project and I won't have to see it every time I open my fabric drawer. Heh.

The Specs:

1 yard "Indigo Skull" in Pool & Aqua by The Alexander Henry Fabric Collection

Happy Tuesday (and St. Paddy's Day!) y'all!!

-Carolyn

Thrift Score: Fabric Bonanza

 I am super excited about this thrift score: $3 for ALL THIS FABRIC. Can you believe it? Well, you better believe it. Because it's true. It's what happened.

Sailor and I found this adorable little thrift shop. It's a Christian run little shop called Calvary Thrift. It is super well organized, the prices are incredibly low, and it smells good. I don't think I can emphasize that last point enough. At least the day we went there, the place smelled really good. IT smelled like clean flowers and delicious rainstorms. Such a rare thing when it comes to a thrift store.

They had a big table full of fabric right at the front of the store. It was just $3 to fill a huge bag! Most of the fabric I selected was upholstery fabric. I grabbed some sheers too. Think I'm going to make some scarves out of the sheer stuffs!! 

I've got a lot of plans for bags and whatnot with all this fabric. I just need to get in contact with someone out here who will let me borrow their sewing machine for endless hours of seam-steaming fun.

I was drawn to these freaky calves on the flannel. Are they frolicking? Are they falling? Where are their eyes?? What's up with their hooves?!? So many important questions. The most important of which is: what am I going to do with this? I'm thinking +Becca Lynn is going to get some weird cow related thing.

Got any projects going on? Had any big thrift scores?