Vacation Purse(s)

Going on vacation always equates to making a new purse, at least in my eyes. I've loved the "Go Anywhere Bag" since the pattern came out. Seeing tons of other people's renditions of the bag on Pinterest pushed me even more towards buying it. It was totally worth the seven dollars, and made a great vacation bag. So good in fact that I made two. This is the first one. 

 I did something I never do, followed all of the directions to a T. I used navy blue linen, white piping, and Denyse Schmidt fabric for the body. *side note* Joann's has been selling the Denyse Schmidt line for over a year and yet it seems that whenever I go into one and ask about the line everyone who works there says "we don't carry that fabric." Then I make it my mission to hunt it down, I am always tempted to say; "Yes you do have it!"but I never have the guts.

This bag can seriously go anywhere, because it fits everything. There are four pockets on the outside of the bag and a huge interior. I can even fit my lunch box inside.

After using the purse for a few weeks I decided I needed a smaller purse. I have this issue where if I give myself an alloted amount of space, no matter how large or small, I will fill it. I liked the pattern a lot though so I just shrunk the pattern pieces to 93%, and came up with purse number two.

Besides the sizing the other change I made was to add a zippered inside pocket instead of a regular pocket. I kept my passport safe inside the zippered pocket on our trip, when it wasn't in the safe in our room that is.

The outside pockets are perfect for holding and separating my sunglasses, cell phone, water bottle, book, sunscreen, camera, and other vacation necessities. I brought both purses on our trip, my Mum used the larger and I used this one. We laughed while we were there because I put the room key in the same pocket everyday and could always find it quickly, and she could never remember which pocket she put hers in.

 For this one I used a pair of work pants that I accidentally ruined with salad dressing. The thick pant material adds quite a bit of strength to the bag. The upper fabric is from Anna Maria Horner's Innocent Crush line. I liked the piping detail so much on the first bag that I used it again on this one. The inside fabric is the same color red as the piping.

Both purses were well used on our vacation. In fact I noticed today that I had sand stuck to my cell phone from being inside one of the pockets.

I really love both of these bags and would recommend the pattern to anyone. I seem to be on a Noodlehead kick lately, and seeing her new "Envelope Clutch" pattern may just continue that kick. Off to contemplate fabric choices, and watch Downton Abbey on Hulu.

Lauren

Reusable Bag- Sew N Tell

Charlie and I (mostly Charlie) always remember to bring reusable bags to the grocery store. It makes us happy to not use loads and loads of plastic bags; which when we do get I typically stuff in a corner of our pantry because it is what my Mum, and her Mom always did/do, so I do it too, don't ask why, even I don't know. I love not having to add to my growing plastic bag corner when we go to the grocery store, but I never remember to bring the bags to any other stores. They are kind of big, so I need something small that can fit into my small purse.

The other day my brother Garrett came over for dinner and was telling me about this group he is in that does environmental stuff. I guess the group had an event the other day where they did a lot of cool earth friendly things. He said that he worked fixing old bikes for people to ride, and then he told me that another bunch of people were making reusable bags out of tee shirts. Sounds pretty cool huh? He told me how they did it; "You sew the bottom together, cut off the arms and cut a bigger neck hole." This all made perfect sense to me, Charlie seemed confused, but maybe he just wasn't listening. My wheels started spinning but it seemed rude to start a sewing project when you have guests, even if it is your younger brother. I waited until the next morning at which point my head sprung from the pillow and I yelled; "Charlie get me a tee shirt you hate! ASAP!" What a coincidence, he had a shirt someone gave to him that was environmentally friendly and that he never wore!

I pulled out my serger, started sewing immediately, realized I made the same mistake I always make (got too excited about the sewing and forgot to extend the thread do-hicky so the tension was all wrong and my thread broke, which means I had to re-thread the serger, not an easy or quick task) then I went on to finish my bag. If I hadn't been such an idiot and messed up the serger this project would have taken me 2 minutes, but it took me about 20 (at least I didn't swear.) And now Voila; A reusable tote bag that can fold up to an insanely small size and also carry a lot! Hurray!

After the fact I found this tutorial by none other than Martha Stewart, in case you didn't understand my one sentence directions above, not that I expected you to. Happy Friday, and happy Sew N Tell!

Lauren

Tote Bag Give Away and Weekend Summary

Here is the finished product...my fusion tote bag. Although, it is no longer mine. I gave it to my brothers girlfriend, Jaimie. She is pretty much the only blog follower who I didn't force to follow me, and she has also made a few of the same projects I have. So I decided to give it to her. (*But I might do more giveaways so be sure to become a follower and leave me nice comments, and also then I will know you people are reading my blog so when you say something about it I won't get creeped out and think you are stalking me or reading my mind). 
Here's the inside. I made a pocket and added the "Made By Lauren" tag. 
And lastly, here is the back side. I like the way target bags look so I used a few of them and also added words like "recycle." I found the bias tape and handle at my mom's house. So the bag was technically free, unless you count all of the times I went to target and bought things to get the bags (but I'm not counting that). 
This weekend was great. I went to my dad's house and saw some fireworks with my friend, went for a motorcycle ride (to vermont, eww, but I only stayed there for 10 minutes and never set foot off of the motorcycle. I hate vermont) and also spent time at our manifest destinied boat house, here's a clip of my brother tipping our boat over to drop a 200 pound mooring. Please excuse the cackling laughs from me and Charlie. We also went to a NH Fishercats game this weekend, it was great, baseball is much more interesting when you have lots of weird people to look at, and fried dough to eat. 

Today was the 5th day of clinic and I didn't cry, get mad, throw my hands in the air, swear or anything else extreme. In the words of the Beatles, "It's getting better all the time."

So that sums up the last few days. 

If you just read this post and you aren't a follower you should become one! (JACLYN! CARLA! MONICA! to name a few)

Have a great night!

Lauren!