As you can tell from this blog, my crafting happens in spurts. I’m not a consistent crafter/sew-er (I hate typing sewer…makes me think of Mutant Ninja Turtles or something lol), but when the craft bug strikes, it strikes hard! I don’t like to force myself to get behind the sewing machine or to grab a pair of needles, so when inspiration strikes, I just go in the craft room and simply make things. I once tried make a business out of my love for crafting/sewing, but I found that I started to see that as a job, rather than a hobby. 🙁 So, whenever people ask me why I don’t sell the things that I make, this is exactly why. I just don’t need extra stress in my life, especially for something I consider a stress relief!
It all started with my dining table. I thought it needed a cute vase to have as a good centerpiece, and well, I remembered this yarn wrapped wine bottle that I saw on Pinterest. I’ve had an empty wine bottle sitting for a while in our kitchen, and I used some leftover yarn from making these scarves. It took me about 30 minutes to wrap/glue the yarn, and I just stuck a fake hydrangea in it. It couldn’t have been easier (I swear), and it was FREE! I love using craft leftovers!
Then, my husband’s coworker became a grandfather, so of course, I had to sew a quick taggie for him to give to his granddaughter. These are always a quick, but very cute project for me to make. Although I always shake my fists at the minky fabric a few times, (because it just stretches like crazy on me) in the end, it’s worth it to gift something as cute as this!
And most recently, I took on the challenge of making my first purse. I’ve always been intimidated by lining, interfacing, darts, pleats, etc., and now that I made the purse, I really have no idea why! All of these things were no big deal, but then again, I used a very thorough pattern made by Beki of Artsy Crafty Babe. By the way, if you love craft blogs and you aren’t following Beki’s blog, definitely give it a read. She uses the most amazing fabric combinations in her sewing, and I kind of want to have her craft studio. 😛
Back to the bag–Currently, this pattern isn’t in her Etsy shop yet (I was SUPER lucky to be chosen as a pattern tester for this bag!), but keep your eyes peeled; I’m sure it will be on there fairly soon! If you’re a beginner at bags (like me), you should definitely check out her patterns. They’re nothing like the patterns that you buy at a craft store (don’t you just HATE how poorly those patterns are written??!) They’re actually written to where you can completely understand how to make the bag step-by-step. She has a few free ones on her blog, too. 🙂 Y’all know how I feel about free stuff!
And, here’s how the bag looks on the inside. Don’t you just love these colors?
I decided to make this bag with my favorite print…I should totally buy a bolt of this, because the color combination and print is just so awesome! I combined it with this print for the lining and this print for the accents.
I didn’t waste any time at all to switch purses, by the way. I didn’t even want to iron out the wrinkles…I just wanted to carry this bag around! 🙂 It’s such a fun bag!
I don’t see the craft bug bites going away anytime soon either. I have so much inspiration in my head right now, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to have a good chunk of free time to work on things in the next few months, too. So excited!
I love that bag!!