Whim to Woo Hoo! aka Blue Bag of Happiness

Last night I decided on a whim to make a bag to carry stuff back and forth to work. I've begun working at home one day a week and there always seems to be something to transport.

So, I went into my 'studio', which is what I'm now calling my 'craft room' cause it sounds glamorous ;-)

In November '08 I became the proud owner of a new deluxe embroidery sewing machine. For the previous 12 years, I'd been using a very, very, basic machine that could no longer maintain a tension, or feed consistently. So, much researching and dreaming later, I purchased a new machine. And it does just about everything, except make dinner. I can't tell you how it's changed my creative life. Every day is an adventure in just what it can do. Tools are critical to results.

Okay, back to last night. Want a bag. I went into my studio, sat in the sewing chair, spun around to look at the fabric choices. Let me just say, this is my favorite way to sew. No plan, no pattern, no deadline, just free thinking. So after considering all the choices, I decide on the robin's egg blue twill -bright, happy, durable, washable. Now a lining... lo and behold, hiding in the scraps, left over from a niece's dress, 4 years ago, is the same color plisse with white flowers. It looks like spring and I could seriously use some spring. I even found a new pack of 'D' rings tucked in a drawer. Kismet!

I used white thread, for the white flowers on the lining and because I liked the contrast and thought it would show off the decorative stitches, but the wale of this twill is so big that the thread gets a little lost. It's subtle, rather than striking, but I like it. I put a pocket on the lining, from leftover scraps of the plisse, boxed the bottom, and made long handles to easily fit over my winter coat. Best of all, I was able to try new things, like the decorative stitching on the handles. My old machine did not have the power to stitch through four layers of heavy twill. Because I didn't have a real plan, nor a pattern, I just let it flow. It was totally fun and I'm pretty happy with the results. Okay, really happy.

In about an hour, I went from whim to woo hoo!