Travel Duffel and Luggage Tag

Oh yes, I haven't posted in so so long. Work has been a time suck this season. Luckily, the symphony season is DONE on Friday evening and I will have much more time for important things like sewing!

I had to post these pictures, though, because I am so very tickled by this bag.


I got the pattern off of youcanmakethis.com. I avoided that site like the plague for a very long time because it is dangerous! Instant downloads = a lot of temptation. I gave in when Alice needed a name tag for her skunk. It was Animal day at Kindergarten and she was afraid that Esmeralda would 1. run away, 2. get lost, or 3. be skunk-napped. I downloaded a pattern for this luggage tag to make a last-minute name tag:


The duffel bag is by the same woman who came up with the luggage tag. The bag in the pictures is for Alice's Kindy teacher for an end of the year gift. It is HUGE. In the picture I stuffed it with 5 bath towels to make it stand up nicely. I could have easily fit another 2 or 3 inside. I LOVE this pattern and plan to make one for Alice and myself. Two friends have requested this bag as a birthday gift.

It has a zippered pocket on one side with gussets to make it e x p a n d a b l e.



The handles are made of jute webbing. Hobby Lobby carries this. Cherie suggests not washing the jute because it shrinks, bleeds and unravels. I wanted the bag to be washable, so I did wash the jute. I serged the ends, stuck it in a delicates bag and washed it on hot with some stuff that quilters use to set dye. Then I stuck it in the dryer. It did shrink A LOT. And it was horribly wrinkly, but some patience and a lot of steam with the iron took care of that. Ultimately I think the ability to machine wash the bag outweighs the shrinkage and extra time involved in prepping the jute.

Do you see the pocket between the straps on the side?

This is a great pattern. I would recommend having some experience sewing before you take this on, though. It's not terribly hard but it uses a lot of different skills. Here is the link to Studio Cherie's You Can Make This! page.

Halloween!

Okay, here is Alice's Halloween costume. (Simplicity 3663) I have wanted to make this for a few years now, but the thought of buying 6 feather boas at $6-8 apiece stopped me in my tracks. This year I decided it was my last chance to influence her choice of costume since I'm sure peer pressure will kick in next year in 1st grade. (ugh!) So I was prepared to bite it and cough up the dough. Luckily I found an online source where I scored 12 boas for $18. MUCH better!

I highly recommend this pattern. First of all, it's hysterical. The pictures are cute, but they don't do it justice. SO cute. It's also really, really easy. It's basically a coat with wings instead of arms. I didn't do any of the finishing the instructions recommended because the feathers cover all that up anyhow and fleece won't unravel. I also didn't line the head piece. I also didn't sew the boas on, I opted for bazillions of safety pins instead. I pinned from the inside. This went MUCH faster than basting, and you can't tell that it's pinned. Also, I used more than 6 boas. I had to order a dozen and I think I used about 9. You wouldn't have to, though. I was just free with the feathers because I HAD them.

I'm trying to think of the "hard part" with this costume, and there really isn't one. The instructions are horrible, as with all the instructions from the big pattern companies. If you can sew by feel this shouldn't be a problem. Obviously I don't have a problem with that since I didn't do half the stuff they told me to do....