Gifts

For Mother's Day, I made this tote for my Mom. The pattern is "Amanda's Bag" from Marlous Designs. Marlous happens to be a special family member of ours, so I think that made the gift even better for Mom. The main fabric is a home dec weight I thought she would like. The lining and contrast are quilting fabrics. All were found at my local Hancock Fabric. The pattern calls for the bag to be quilting with a layer of batting. Since I am not a quilter, I just added a layer of fusible fleece. Now that it is finished, I don't know if that was a good move, as the bag is a little floppy. I may have to revamp the bag and add some rigid interfacing (...or just learn to quilt). The pattern is great and gave me a nice challenge adding a zippered pocket. The zipper pocket is hidden behind the front pocket panel. It should have been visible on the outside of the front panel, BUT I had a mishap with a very hot iron and reversed the outer pocket panels to hide a lovely scorch mark. I like the contrast that the green floral fabric adds. Behind all of those diagonal trim pieces lies a pocket, so in total there are five outer pockets and also a row of inner pockets in the lining bag. The bag is quite roomy. All in all, a success.

My sister-in-law's birthday is approaching and she visited us over the weekend from Toronto. Since she is working on her vegetable garden again this year, I thought a gardening apron might be needed. I just made up this design as I went, knowing that I wanted the apron to have lots of pockets, with some expandable ones for garden gloves, clippings, etc. The floral pocket panel is made from a thrifted kitchen towel sewn in half lengthwise. I then made some inverted pleats to make the two center pockets gusseted. The main fabric is a home dec weight gingham. I used pre-packaged bias tape to finish the top seams and make the ties. Although the colors of the gingham aren't exactly dirt friendly, I like the cheery combination!