My first attempt at a lined bag

What's better than a bag made with one of your favorite fabrics?

A bag made with two of your favorite fabrics.

I threw this together last night while my husband was out.  IKEA decorator fabric on the outside and more upcycled dining room curtains on the inside. 

Yes, I realize the picnic table quality about it.  I like it anyway. 

My new brave self even managed a pocket.

I don't know why I haven't been doing this all along.  I think in my head I had some crazy idea that I needed to make two bags...one outside, one inside...and then slip the inside one in the outside.  Nope. 

To make the lining, all I did was cut two extra pieces of fabric, the same size as my main pieces.  I layered them, wrong sides to wrong sides of the main pieces, and went about my bag making business.  So easy!

I don't know how many tote bags one girl needs, but have a feeling those vintage sheets are going to find themselves as linings of many more.

And do you need a laugh?  My bobbin thought it would be a great idea if I had this mohawk of thread coming out the top of my new bag.  Pretty awesome, huh?

Gone thriftin'

I had a babysitter for a few hours the other day.  I was supposed to be using the time to clean the house, run errands, etc. 

Supposed to.  What did the responsible, time mananging adult that I am do instead?

Go thrifting.

And I'm so glad that I did.  Look at all of these lovelies!

5 bucks for this dresser.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  Yes, it needs a little love.  But no more than a few cans of spray paint and I have to give.

And these vintage linens?  I had an armload after only looking at one rack.  Some vintage-y aprons will definitely be in the works.  I may even cut some fat quarters for the shop.  But first I just want to sit and stare.

Vintage china.  Pinch me.  I must be dreaming.  I can't decide if I should eat every meal for the rest of my life on them or if I should hang them up and gawk. 

I'll let you know what I decide.

Sweet little Golden Books.  I definitely feel some playroom art coming out of the lovely illustrations.  Or maybe even a project like this one. 

It was like I was meant to go in there.  I needed to give a good home to all of these treasures.  I haven't had so much luck in months...plenty of fun projects to come! 

Happy Friday everyone!

Sweet thoughts

It's snowing.  Again. 

The smell of Martha's banana bread, straight from her New Classics cookbook, makes being stuck in the house under even more snow almost worth it. 

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups ripe mashed bananas (about 3 medium)
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup (about 4 ounces) walnuts or pecans, toasted and finely chopped
½ cup buttermilk
Nonstick cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat two 9-by-5 loaf pans with cooking spray, set aside. In large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, and vegetable oil on medium-low speed until combined. Beat in the flour mixture. Add the vanilla, banana, coconut, nuts, and buttermilk, and beat just to combine.

Divide batter evenly between prepared pans, smooth with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 60 to 65 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Remove loaves from pans and let cool completely. Bread can be kept at room temperature, wrapped in plastic, for up to 1 week, or frozen for up to 3 months.

Shapes beanbags

Here's a familiar project.  The alphabet bean bags that I made a while back have been a lot of fun.  Me, being the girl that can't let a good project go, made some more. 

This time, shapes. 

Heart, star, square, diamond, rectangle, circle, oval and triangle, all on the same fun, rainbow colored fabric.

And I got a few requests for the alphabet beanbags for my shop.  I'm working on a set or two, but in the meantime, I've listed a set of these shape beanbags. 

Enjoy!

Polka dot pot holders

I wanted to add a little bit of whimsy to our kitchen, so over the weekend, I made a set of polka dot potholders. 

This is another super easy and quick project.  Here's what I did.

Cut two 8.5 x 8.5 inch squares of fabric and one 8.5 x 8.5 inch square of insulated batting.

Lay the two squares of fabric on top of each other, right sides together, with the batting on top.  Pin and sew, being sure to leave a 3-4 inch opening for turning.  Snip the corners and turn right side out. 

To make the loop for hanging, take a 3.5 x 5 inch scrap of fabric and iron it in half lengthwise.

Open it up and iron each edge in to the center crease.

Iron in half again.

Top stitch along each edge.

Fold into a loop.

As you are top stitching your opening shut, sew your loop in place.

And since I wanted my pot holders to look quilted, after I top stitched my opening closed, I continued sewing around and around, lining my presser foot up along my previous line of stitching for a guide.

In the end, I had 12 lines of stitching.   

There'll be a set in the shop shortly. :)

Onesie refashion: toddler shirt

Thanks to generous friends and family, we have more clothing than either of my boys could ever wear.  I feel like it would be a shame to pack up all those great, barely worn clothes to save for a future baby (and another boy at that), so I thought I'd alter them into something usable now.

Here's what I did...

I gathered up onesies that are already too short for my 1 year old. 

Then, using my quilter's ruler to keep things even, I cut straight across, just above the trim on the leg holes.

Then I serged and hemmed the bottom.  (Knits don't ravel, so just hemming without serging would have worked fine, too.)

That's it!  In just a few minutes, I made  great new toddler shirts from old onesies!