As the saying goes, "Better late than never!", but this is either really late or super duper early. I'll just smile and pretend to be early.
If you ate dinner at our house this holiday season, this is what your place setting should have looked like. Yes, that is our wedding China, and yes, it was the first time we have used it since we got married (ahem, 9 years later), but that is not what I'm talking about. You should have been treated to this lovely homemade placemat and napkin, but alas, you were not. Why you ask? Mostly because I didn't get my act together in time to get them done. Like I said, now they are done...10 months early for next Christmas.
Who makes their own placemats and napkins? I do. Allow me to explain. I went searching high and low for fancy Christmas placemats. I didn't want actual Christmas icons, no reindeer, no Santa, no glitter or bells, just nice fancy holiday adult placemats. Rarely did I find anything I liked, and I wound up looking at things that would almost work, and thought I was settling for less than I was hoping for. When I did find something I thought would work, the price tag made me scrunch up my face and put it back on the shelf. That's when I thought to myself, "Screw this, I'll make my own"! I thank Mom for that one.
Off to the fabric store I went in search of fancy material. Honestly, it all depends what fabric store you go to. JoAnn's fabrics is nice, but I found something better, Jackman's fabrics. It is mostly a quilting and project fabric store, run by a village of grandmothers who might as well be sewing ninjas. They know everything and can answer every question. One nice grandma-lady came up to me and asked if I needed help. (It may have been that I was sitting cross-legged on the floor making notes in my sewing project binder. Yes...I have one.) I explained to her what I was trying to do, and with the biggest smile on her face she led me all around the store trying to give me ideas. She was so happy someone my age was making fabric napkins again. I told her they were making a comeback. After a tour of the store and some measuring and buying, I ran home with my fabric and ribbon to get started. This was back in November.
What you are looking at above is a double-sided placemat with interfacing in the middle to add a little sturdiness, and a soft cotton 19" napkin with mitered corners. Now that I look at napkins in restaurants, most manufacturers cheat and make those corners that just fold over. Mitered corners are way spiffy-er and not hard to do. I did, of course, Leona Comer-ize the napkins and placemats. This means knots are tucked under, seams are straight, corners are actual right angles, and even if you see a mistake and no one else will know about it, I fixed it anyway. Why? Because I would know that it was there, and if you know it's there, you may as well fix it. When all else fails, go back and iron that fabric within an inch of its life and make it go where you want it to go. Plus, these are meant to be used. Used and washed and used again. There is no reason to put effort into something like this if you are not going to use it. I expect these to get lasagna spilled all over them and have them go through the wash about one hundred times. That's a lot of dinners.
After touring the store and seeing all the fun fabric, more and more projects came to mind. I had a few in my head that I had seen online, but no real intention to make them right away...until you see an entire store filled with fun fabrics. Your mind starts to race, you get excited and want to grab all the fun bolts of fabric so no one else will buy what you want. You start picking up fabric not knowing what you are going to make with it, but darn it, you are going to make something. This is why I am now the proud owner of two lovely tote bags. I shall explain:
The 40 Minute Tote
In my perusing of sewing websites, craft ideas, and my love-hate relationship with Pinterest, I came across this lovely blog and tote bag idea on the Purlbee blog: http://www.purlbee.com/the-forty-minute-tote/
I won't go in to how I made it because the woman who wrote the blog did a great job of explaining how to already. I took her idea and Leona Comer-ized it. Or is is Mandi-proofing? Not sure what I should call it. I just know I am hard on my stuff and I expect bags to hold things and not rip or tear, so to prevent that I do a little reinforcing. This bag was called The 40 Minute Tote, but really, once I added in all the extra steps I did, it was more like the Hour and a Half Tote.
Here are the two finished bags. These bags have a 9" handle drop and are 16" wide by 14" tall with a 5" box bottom and fully lined. The bag with white flowers has an exterior pocket and and two interior pockets, while the dragonfly one (YES! Dragonflies...so fun) has only one interior pocket and is clean on the outside. Remember that box bottom part, that will come back later.
Once you understand my thought process on this, it all makes sense. The blue bag with white flowers is canvas on the outside with just a basic white cotton fabric on the inside, and was the first fabric I picked up to make the bag. I was thinking this bag would hold my shoes and mat for boot camp, or maybe go to the farmer's market, or even a book bag when I go to the library and check out far too many books than one person could ever read in the two week allotment, so it needed to be sturdy. Canvas = Sturdy
If the blue bag is practical and fits a need, then the orange dragonfly bag is the one that I made because I walked by the fabric and just had to make something with it. I couldn't leave it in the store. I needed those bright orange handles and crazy interior fabric, and the dragonflies make life fun.
This is what I mean by a box (or boxed) bottom. You can see that the bag is not just two rectangles sewn together, but actually has shape. Am I a sewing expert? Hardly. Can I figure my way out of a paper bag? Yes. I know enough to think I can do something really hard, and then maybe spend twice as long trying to figure it out, but eventually, it comes out great. The next time you walk around town, start looking for homemade tote bags. Out here, they are making a comeback, especially in libraries, farmer's markets, and anywhere you go where you don't really want to lug your purse around. I've noticed bags that are just 2 squares sewn together, but when you see a bag with a box bottom, make sure you nod with a little respect and appreciation. Now really, they are not that hard to make at all, but do require some forethought and planning. Just nod your head and smile in their direction and think "Well played sewing ninja, well played."
As for the Mandi-proofing, I went above and beyond what the website blog recommended. I did sew the bag about 4 inches down on both side seams to make sure the lining doesn't twist inside the bag. I also did some extra reinforcement on the handles so they wouldn't tear out or rip. Every knot is tucked, and when just a straight seam was called for, I went back and zig-zagged the edge to keep it from fraying. Like I said, I am planning to get these dirty and throw them in the wash, and hopefully my preparations keep them in good working order for a long time to come.
That concludes today's episode of "Sewing projects I have done." Tune in next time to see what else we have going on.
Thanks for reading! Until our next adventure, keep on smiling, snuggling, and smelling the world around you.
Mandi, Kyle and Toby
