Canvas Bag Tutorial: Part 2 - Straps and Pockets

    Not ready for this step yet? Here's last week's post about the pattern pieces, so you can catch up!

     We are ready to sew!

     To start off, I pinned all of the pockets together with the wrong side facing out. For the outside pocket one layer is of canvas and the other is of cotton (originally I had two outside pockets, but one got set aside). You can also pin the two side panels to the top edges of the body and sew those together, but we will be covering assembling the body in the next part.

Originally I had two outside pockets.

     Then, I sewed my pockets, leaving a gap a few inches wide so that I could turn the pockets right side out. I also sewed my side panels onto the main body of my bag and lining. Next, I got out my iron to iron my seams and flatten out my pockets after turning them out.

     While I had the iron going I made the straps and reinforcement strip! For the straps I folded the fabric in half hotdog-wise and ironed it so that it made a crease down the middle.

     Then I folded each edge into the middle, ironing them down to keep them in place. Next, I folded the strip in half, along my original fold. That way the rough edges were safely tucked away inside! Finally I pinned the strip in place so I could topstitch it. I repeated this process with the other strap and the reinforcement strip.

     Finally, it was time to topstitch everything!

Tip of the day: Topstitch EVERYTHING!

Canvas Bag Tutorial: Part 1 - Cutting Out the Pattern

     So, I have this canvas bag that I use to tote all of my stuff around for church. I love it to bits, but it's as old as the hills and starting to show it's age. To help solve my problem I thought I could whip up a new bag based on the design of my old bag.

     These next few weeks I will be walking you all through the steps I took to making it! To make the bag I bought 1.5 yards of 45" wide home decor fabric and 2 yards of cotton fabric for lining. I bought way too much, though! Really, all you need is a yard of the home decor fabric and 2/3 of the cotton. After studying my old bag and measuring it I came up with a pattern! To make my pattern I traced the dimensions of my pieces on old wrapping paper.

 Then I cut it out and pinned the pieces onto my fabric, using them as a guide of where to cut.

These are the pieces you need to cut out:

Canvas:
1 - 30" X 10" for the body (you can make this easier on yourself by cutting out a 15 X 10 rectangle and then cutting on a fold - just don't cut the fold!)
2 - 5" X 13" for the side panels
2 - 4" X 25" for the straps
1 - 4" X 20" for a reinforcement strip to attach the straps
1 - 10" X 10" for the outside pocket

Cotton:
1 - 30" X 10" for the lining
2 - 5" X 13" for the lining
2 - 8" X 6" for the inside pocket
1 - 10" X 10" for the lining of the outside pocket

     For the next step in this project go here.

Real Books, Reel Lines

     Recently a friend asked me to think of my favorite books and when they hooked my attention. To facilitate this I pulled several of my favorites from my personal library and wrote down a few quotes from each. Some of the quotes are the first lines of the books, or something in particular I liked. Here is the result:

Eddie’s Blue Winged Dragon by C. S. Alder

“Eddie considered hiding the five dollars in his orthopedic shoes, but why should he? He had nothing to be afraid of. He was just a regular kid going to a regular school now” (p. 9).

Poppy by Avi

“At the very edge of this forest stood an old charred oak on which sat a great horned owl. The owl’s name was Mr. Ocax, and he looked like death itself” (p. 1).

“The and there Poppy vowed she would never leave home again. The difficulty was that at that moment she was far from home, frightened and alone” (p. 15).

Shakespeare’s Secret by Elise Broach

“It was the last day of summer” (p. 3).

“That was the strange thing about moving so often. It forced you to think about starting over every time, whether you wanted to or not” (p. 4 - 5).

Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix

“The fire had gone out and I didn’t know what to do” (p. 1).

“I was cold. I was lonely. I was engaged to be married in two short months to the most handsome man I’d ever see - the prince of the land, the heir to the throne. But I had never felt so alone in all my life, not even shivering in rags in my garret the day they came to say my father was dead. This was happiness?” (p. 9 - 10).

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

“Miri woke to the sleepy bleating of a goat” (p. 7).

“Marda always said she could not resist Miri’s low, throaty laugh and defied the mountain itself not to rumble as well. But Miri liked her sister’s laugh better than a belly full of soup” (p. 10).

The Princess Curse by Merrie Haskell

“Three days after my thirteenth birthday, Armas, the Executioner and Chief of Prisons, came for me while I ate breakfast” (p. 1).

“Pa was very patient: He jerked me out from behind the tapestry and dragged me across the great hall, outside past the hub gardens, and through the castle gates into the plum orchard before yelling” (p. 10).

A Memory of Dragons by Annabel and Edgar Johnson

“I’m putting all this on file, just in case. Call it insurance. I don’t know exactly what these guys are up to, but on cold nights, it is wise to cover you own aspidistra, especially when somebody invites you to become a spy” (p. 5).

Prisoner of PSI by Annabel and Edgar Johnson

“The house was almost as old as Denver itself - one of a row of brick boxes” (p. 7).

“I was gripping the scorched lump of steel hard enough to sprain a few fingers. All at once I heaved it as far as I could throw. That produced a tangible tremor of dread from the aspen grove. I put the lid on my pot of emotions and tried to simmer them down before I went across to renew old enmities” (p. 24).

Savvy by Ingrid Law

“When my brother Fish turned thirteen we moved to the deepest part of inland because of the hurricane and, of course, the fact that he’d caused it” (p. 1).

The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt by Patricia MacLachlan

“Melinda Pratt rides city bus number twelve to her cello lesson, wearing her mother’s jean jacket and only one sock” (p. 1).

Holes by Louis Sachar

“There is no lake at Camp Green Lake” (p. 3).

What are your favorite books to read?

Family Spring Break Outing

     Despite our increasingly busy family schedules, we were able to squirrel away some time to go on a trip as a family this Spring Break. If you are acquainted with my family at all, you will know that we do road trips. And museums. So what better thing to do over spring break than to go on a road trip and see a bunch of museums?

     By the hand of fate (also known as my mother) we elected to go to Kansas City for an overnight trip. We left the house first thing Wednesday morning, stopping by a McDonalds at the half-way point for breakfasty food items (Note: Stopping at McDonalds on the first day of the road trip is a family tradition. A road trip would not be a true road trip without McDonalds). By the time we got to KC it was almost lunch time. Our first stop of the day was the Union Station. Not only was this location a tourist attraction in its own right, but it also contained a traveling exhibit on Pompeii.

     The exhibit featured artifacts taken from the city. First, it detailed the lives and culture of the people living in the city before discussing the actual disaster. After viewing the exhibit we explored the Station, and then ate lunch in our car. Afterwards we headed to the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum.
The Nelson-Atkins was large - almost overwhelmingly so. Mom thought that it would be a good place to visit numerous times over an extended period and take in a bit at a time.

     After the art museum we arrived at our hotel around 4:30. We took half and hour to settle in before heading to an esteemed dinner location - Cracker-barrel - where we were rewarded with excellent food, excellent service, and excellent value.

     The next morning we got up and got ready at our own leisure. The hotel we were staying at did not offer a complimentary breakfast, so we brought some of our own to eat in the privacy of our room. After loading up the car and checking out of the hotel we headed to the main attraction of the morning; Harry S. Truman's Presidential Library in Independence, MO. It was valuable to learn in depth about one of our presidents and the issues of his time. Mom was impressed most by the air drops President Truman coordinated for East Berlin during the Cold War.

     By the time we had finished with the library it was time for lunch, so we ate again in the car before hitting the road. As we were leaving Independence we drove past Truman's home, a few blocks away from the Library. On the way home we stopped at a Braums to get ice cream.

     All in all, was a jam-packed two days, but a worthy occasion to get out of the house and spend time together as a family.

Knitting Escapades

     Here is an update on my knitting life and two of my most recent projects:

#1 - Laptop Case
     Way back in September or so of last year I had the brilliant idea (at least I thought) to create a case for my laptop. Originally my plan was to sew up a pouch with cotton fabric and a fleece lining for protection and cushion. However, going that route meant that I would have to visit a local fabric store, pick out my fabric and purchase it. I decided that I could knit a suitable case with yarn I already had on hand in less time than it would take me to sew it. How hard could it be? I thought.
    To be fair, the case wasn't really that hard to make. It was pretty simple technique-wise. The only problem with it was that it took way longer than I expected to make (I just now finished it this month). Part of the problem stemmed from the fact that I did not work on the project regularly. Every once in a while I would chip away at it, but I didn't commit myself to making an effort. Also, I misplaced the project for about a month before I found it again, so that certainly didn't help.
      Finally I was able to overcome my various difficulties and finish my case! It is a bit lopsided in my opinion, but considering I had no pattern to work off of and pretty much made it up as I went along, I think I did pretty well.

#2 - Beanie
      If you have read my blog before you might recall that back in October I made a quick loom-knitted hat for my minion costume. Spurred on by that experience and a cute beanie one of my friends owned, I decided I could modify my method enough to create my own beanie.
     This project wasn't especially difficult either, I just knitted the same hat that I did for my minion, but with a thicker yarn. Also, I made it a bit longer so that the beanie would have some slouch in it. After knitting the minion hat I was a little burned out on the knitting loom, so that slowed my progress. Still I managed to finish it!

DIY Sharpie Mug

     Recently a friend's birthday came up and I had NO idea what to get her. So, instead of floundering around in the dark I decided to ask her what she wanted. One of the ideas she suggested to me was a mug because she really likes tea. Now, mugs are pretty easy to find, but I wanted to do something a bit more special. So I decided to make her a personalized mug myself.

     My adventure started at Dollar Tree store to get my mug. Ideally, I was looking to get a plain white mug, but all they had in solid colors were mustard yellow and black. The yellow wasn't  a good match for the color scheme I was going for, so I went with the black mug. Plus, it was only $1!

     Next, I went to a local craft store to get the sharpies. Instead of using regular sharpies for this project I splurged and bought some paint sharpies. They were a little more expensive than regular sharpies, but they would be more durable and wouldn't wash off as easily. The colors I chose were blue, green, and pink.

     I decorated the handle of the mug, as well as adding a tea bag as an accent. When the design we done I let it dry for a couple days before firing it in the oven. I let the mug sit in the oven while it preheated  for 450 degrees. Then I baked it for half an hour, before letting it cool with the oven.

Spring Choir Concert

     Okay, technically this wasn't JUST at choir concert. If we are being official it was an A Cappella Choir and Women's Glee Club Concert with a guest performance by a high school Madrigal group. Also, this was a concert that I dragged my Dad along to (because who likes to go to social events alone?).

Isn't he great? :)

     So, as I was saying, this past Monday I went to a "choir concert" with my dad. It was an experience we both enjoyed. Out of the three groups performing, my favorite was the A Cappella Choir (ironically they had an accompaniment for one of their numbers). They had a great sound that resounded through out the auditorium. They also sang a wide variety of songs, from a pep-rally cheer for rutabagas (don't ask me, I don't know either) to a re-imagined African-American spiritual. 

     Also, one of my favorite pieces performed that night was a rendition of Ubi Caritas by the high school Madrigal group. 

     As a whole, the night was enjoyable. It was fun to get out of the house and hear some MUSIC!