SEWING SKILLZ

I grew up wearing beautiful dresses hand made by my paternal grandmother. The things she came up were beautiful. It was exciting to me to see how she could take a flat piece of fabric and turn it into a dress. My maternal grandmother also sewed and my mother has sewed beautiful things for me and my daughters. My husband's maternal grandmother was a skilled quilter and we are lucky to have one of her creations. Needless to say I am surrounded by talented women who know their way around a sewing machine. I have always wanted to have that skill in my arsenal and I am slowly but surely learning.

This week I tackled this lined tote. It can be reversible and has a boxed bottom. Took me several hours from start to finish but I'm slow. There was a flaw on the fabric of my lining so I decided to cover it with a heart patch. Loved how it turned out. The outer fabric is printed duck canvas from Hobby Lobby and the liner is some random muslin I had already. I also used a fleece interfacing.

I scoured Pinterest and Google searches gathering patterns and tutorials for totes I liked. I finally settled on this one from MADE. Final size ended up being 13" wide, 14" tall (not counting handles) and 5" deep. I made my handles a bit wider and longer than hers. I am glad I decided to go ahead and box out the bottom of the bag because it gives it more dimension. It seemed intimidating but ended up easier than I expected!

Trying a new skill is rejuvenating and I am ready to tackle a new mixed media artwork or design another leather bracelet. I am finding that allowing myself to rotate between two or three different avenues of creating opens up even more creativity. Make something everyday, even if it's just a fabulous dinner. Creativity can be everywhere!