Pool Side Tote and the Swap Bug

Wow, where did summer go? Labor day has come and gone and fall is around the corner. In the blink of an eye there is pumpkin everything, everywhere. Earlier this year, I hosted my first swap with my friend Sey, and we have had so much fun hosting them together, we are now in the middle of our THIRD swap. We have had some amazing sewists participate and it's been so much fun that we've just kept going.

The first swap we did was the Instagram Pool Tote Swap, right before the start of summer. It was a secret swap, but I purposefully chose to make for Sey as a thank you for being awesome and for all her help. She is a huge Alexander Henry fan, and I heart Ghastlies so I had a ton of fun making for her.

As it was a pool tote swap after all, what better choice than the Poolside Tote from Noodlehead?

I was also starting to get my feet wet with this amazing Glitter Mirror Canvas from Mikri World Supplies...this stuff is amazing. It's so much easier to work with than your typical glitter vinyl but gives the same awesome results. It's much thinner but still very durable and have not used it in several bags with great results. If you have been frustrated with regular glitter vinyl, you should give this stuff a try, you'll be hooked!

I've had this pattern for a while, but never got around to sewing one up. It was initially a part of the very first Bag of the Month Club, and I've been holding on to it since then. The pattern itself is pretty straightfoward and easy to follow and I LOVE the shape of the bag, It's not your typical 'tote' bag and thats one the things I love about it. 

I did make a few modifications to the pattern. Firstly, the pattern calls for a facing accent on the interior of the bag. I opted to skip that, as I liked the look without. Also, I decided to do a welt zip pocket on the exterior, as I wanted it to obscure as little of those fabulous Ghastlies as possible. I also did both a zip pocket and slip pocket on the interior or this bag. There is so such thing as too many pockets!

This bag is one big Mama at 14.5" tall, 14.5" wide (at bottom) and 7.5" deep.  You can easily fit all you need and then more in this tote. The interior has a clip at the top to latch your keys onto so they don't get lost in this big lady.

Although summer is over, and the need for a pool tote is dwindling this is a great pattern to have in your library. It would make a great diaper bag with some modifications, or if you are like me need a bag to put your other bags in. A lady always needs more bags right?

Secret Tote Bag Swap

As I am a sucker for bags, I jumped on board for the Secret Tote Swap happening over on Flickr. My partner requested a large bag and mentioned that purple was her favorite color. My mentality is the bigger the better when it comes to bags ha! I purchased the Super Tote pattern by Noodlehead several months back, but never got around to making it. I knew I wanted to do some time of embellishing on the front of the bag, and the large exterior pocket lends well to that. I used a print from Center City for the various purples on the exterior, some Allison Glass text for the pocket and accents and this awesome city clock embroidery pattern from Urban Threads. 

The Super Tote was very easy to assembly and I was surprised how quickly it sewed up! I spent much more time on the embroidery than the construction of the bag. 

Please excuse my terrible job pressing it! I was in a hurry to get it sent off to it's new home!

I was so incredibly lucky to get Mara of Simon Says Sew as my partner, she was my partner in the Triple Zip Swap last year and she does AMAZING things!! I seriously about cried when I pulled out this tote, pictures absolutely do not do it justice, it's gorgeous!!! She made a matching boxy pouch that I adore, and included all kinds of goodies. She was so sweet in incorporating little extras in the bag, an extra front pocket with a magnetic snap, a key holder on the interior and all this incredible quilting. I have been carrying it around as a purse because I love it so. Why not carry a tote as a purse?! I really need to get out and take some more pics of all the awesomness of this bag! Thankfully the weather is starting to warm up so I'm not stuck choosing between freezing or taking pictures inside. 

I'm heading to Camp Stitchalot this Weekend and I'm so stoked! I'm spending this week picking out projects and getting things together. I am hoping to get all the cutting and interfacing done so I can spend the weekend without all the icky business of doing those unpleasant tasks (I hope I am not the only one who hates those things!). 

Happy Tuesday!

Triple Zip Finished

I did the Triple Zip Swap last year and had a blast, so when Stephanie from Quarter Incher announced round 2,  I jumped in on the fun despite my crazy to do list. Thankfully it takes longer to pick out the fabrics than it does to actually sew a triple zip!

If you haven't given the Triple Zip a go round yet, you absolutely should! It's so much easier than it looks and it comes together really quickly. I think I did the whole pouch from cutting to finishing in about 2 hours. I follow the alternate finishing technique by Marci Girl Designs, because it just seems to make more sense to me.

My partner requested some pink in the bag, and I've been dying to cut into my stack of Safari Moon.  I guess it was meant to be. 

This guy will be off to his new home next week after I stuff some goodies inside. I hope you like it partner!

Valentine's Swap

Wow, it's already February and Valentine's day is right around the corner! I feel like we just recovered from Christmas! Valentine's is never a big holiday round here, the hubby and I typically just keep it low key but with a little one around, it's fun to get a bit more into the festivities.

This year I signed up for the Valentine's day hosted by Sew Caroline and Rags to Riches

I had seen several other swaps in the past but never was able to participate either to not having a blog or simply being too shy to sign up. So, when I ran across this post about a Valentine's mug swap, I knew I wanted to give it a shot!

I was given Chrissy from Hoot Designs and once I saw that her favorite candy was twizzlers I wanted to put together a totally pink and red valentine's basket of sorts.

I Started with some festive heart fabric and some plaid I had in my stash. I knew that I wanted to make some festive but functional gifts, so I decided on some scrappy pot holders and a tea towel. I found this cute embroidery patten from Hudson's Holidays and made an embroidered tea towel backed with one of the fabrics from the pot holders.

Since the whole theme was about mugs, what better than a pink travlers mug?! Add in some candy and fun pair of socks and you have yourself a valentine's basket.

This is what arrived for me in the mail today!!! How awesome is this mug?! Chrissy sent me this adorable package with the cutest mug, some chocolate, a beautiful journal, some flower embelishments, mod podge
and the essential lip balm! I was so excited to get my swap package and I LOVE it!!! Thanks so much Chrissy :)



I had so much fun putting this together and getting my goodies! I will certainly be participating in more swaps!

Happy V-Day :)