Friday, July 29, 2011

A New Project Complete!

 I wouldn't consider myself a very experienced seamstress.  I have been sewing blankets for the past seven years, and I took sewing 4-H in 8th grade or so.  However, recently, my desire to sew has increased.

With the arrival of Baby K, I was so excited about the projects that I planned and completed (Here are a few of the projects--1 and 2). 

After having Baby K, I have struggled to find the perfect bag to take to church.  I have to take my binder, pens, scriptures, diapers, wipes, and now bottles and formula.  I was getting very tired of everything falling to the bottom of my bag, making it impossible to find anything when I needed it.

So one Sunday, during Sacrament Meeting (Shh, don't tell), I drew up this sketch.  The perfect bag, with pockets galore!  A few weeks later, I drew up a pattern in the right size.

 I found this fantastic fabric, and decided to use it for the bag.  I love it!
I needed something to give the bag some thickness, but I still wanted it easy to sew....
So, thank you Costco!  I cut up a giant Costco bag and cut it to fit the pattern.
I sewed the Costco bag on to the backside of the outer fabric when I sewed on the pockets.  The lining is a drop in lining that I sewed just barely smaller than the outer.



In the photo below, I am finishing off the project with a seem around the rim.
I did three seems to really secure it.




Here is the finished product.  The side with the two small pockets.  I designed the outer 
pockets to resemble an envelop with the v-front.
Also, I have two short handles, because I like to be able to grab my bag,
but I do not like to grab it with the long strap.  I also like to sling the strap over my shoulder,
So I made both!  I love how it turned out! It is very functional!


The large pocket on the opposite side.  Again, the v-front.


On the inside, there is a pocket on one side that is large enough to hold a Manila folder, 
or notebook.  I use that for the Young Women roll.  There are plenty of pockets for pens, pencils, toys, and other necessities.  There is even a pocket on each side for a bottle and some "to-go" packets of formula.
This bag holds everything that I need!  I love it!



It turned out so much better than I anticipated.  It really gave me a boost of excitement.  I wonder what else I can sew!  I do have a few skirts to sew...fabric, pattern and all, already purchased.  I just need to get it done!  Maybe I will, now that I believe it might turn out decent!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

How to Monday: Buttering Bread (A make up Post)

So, I was going to post this yesterday, but my little family made a spontaneous trip to El Paso, TX to do some school clothes shopping.  FYI, there is a great outlet mall there!  Anyway, on with the post!

I decided that Little H needed to do a how to video.  So here is her little tutorial!  Enjoy!

She's cute, I don't care who you are!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Independence

I started this post right after the 4th of July.  It took me a while to get the photos edited and added to the blog. :)

Thank you for your patience in my absence.  I might not be back into the swing yet for even a month more (Update on July 24, 2011- I expect a few more weeks of random and irregular posts, but when the girls go back to school... I expect more time).  I will do my best, but while Big T and Little H are home, I don't seem to get as much done as I would like.  It is harder to get my homework done during the day while they are home, which leaves me staying up late to complete assignments.

I love this picture of these two beautiful girls!
Saturday, the 2nd, we went downtown to the Alien Fest.  We didn't see all that there was to see, and we didn't take pictures of everything that we did see.  Hoss was at work, and well, it is tiring taking all three kids around by myself (not to mention that things were so far spread out).  So we did some fun things for the girls, and went back home!  Here are some pictures of that.








I hope that you all had an enjoyable 4th of July.  I am very grateful for this country.  I am grateful for the men who diligently followed the guidance from our Heavenly Father to establish this nation.  My US History class has taught me a lot more than I had known about history.  I thought it was fitting to have the class run over Independence Day!

We celebrated by hanging out in the house for most of the morning, but some friends invited us over to swim, have dinner, and go to the fireworks.  We had a pretty good view of those fireworks too!  Here are some pictures!


I tried a bunch of different settings when taking pictures, and finally found this setting for night time.  It was awesome, because the camera picked up lights that my eyes could not see...hence all of the lines and extra bursts of light!
  

Thanks Wattsies for having us over!  I hope your cats recover from the trauma received by little hunters!