Sew, starting something new . . .

I learned to sew from my mom when I was quite young.  As a child I was so proud that she made all our clothes and also proud that they cost her very little to make.  She bought the fabrics in the bargain bin and made a pantsuit (remember those?) for me for about 25 cents when I was in fifth grade.  I learned pretty quickly not to brag about that, but I was internally proud.

As a teenager I sewed a lot.  That way the clothes I got should have been more fashionable than her choices.  But I wasn’t very good at it so I did what I could and she helped a lot.  She was very good at so many things - sewing, knitting, crochet, painting, writing, and many more but she hated cross stitch, crewel and embroidery.  As a young adult, life got busy and I dropped all my crafty hobbies. I stayed close to mom though because I lived down the street from her.   Knitting was the first hobby to come back and has always and will always be my first love.  I hated sewing and never thought it would come back but it did.  I got the sewing machine for my birthday several years ago (documented on this blog Here).  So I sewed a couple of bags and then sort of dropped it other than for repairs and very minor alterations until the need for masks arose.  My now adult daughter started sewing masks for family and friends and asked for help which I gladly gave.  

Today I decided it was time to sew again.  We are sort of in the process of a long, slow move from Atlanta to Florida and the new house has a lovely little sewing nook (oddly at the end of a bathroom) surrounded by storage for my yarn, looms, sewing things, etc.  the machine has been here for a couple of months but hasn’t been used.  I bought the fabric on Etsy (Such Pretty Suppies) weeks ago and kept looking at it thinking it was so pretty.  Today, my daughter came down for a visit and we cut it out and sewed it.  It was such an easy pattern and I so love the results.  The pattern is The Runaway Bag on Etsy and I made two - one for Dena and one for me - we are both relearning embroidery for the fun of it.

So here is the fabric - purple and peacock for Dena and burgundy and fox for me.

And a Sneak peak at the pattern . . . 

Cut out pieces in purple . . . .

The bags stuffed - the yarn bag is holding about ten hanks of knit pics palette and could hole more the red is holding a gallon bag with about 70 clothes pins full of embroidery thread.  And my embroidery project and bits and pieces with plenty of room leftover.

And they look good, really good!  If I had to do it over, the only change I would make is to make the handles a tiny bit longer so the tie allowed a double knot.

So, that is something I am doing now that I haven’t done before.  I love it and I love the extra crafting time I have now.  I am trying things I never thought I would - like embroidery because I hate sewing.  But here I am, making a bag to contain my embroidery because I am enjoying it.

Have a lovely day everyone.  

Teresa