Another thing on my bucket list was to make the boys' teacher totes for their teachers. I work on getting to know the teachers all year so that I can make them these bags. This time with moving I didn't think I would get them done. I made sure to not pack my sewing machine and I sewed while we were living in our little one-bedroom abode.
Webb-ster
Mrs. Webb's favorite color is blue. She is laid back and traveling constantly with her daughter's softball team. We talk about books all the time. As-a-matter-of-fact, she recommends my reading recommendations to other teachers in the school and realized I have a "book club" of about 8 or 9! Wish I had taken advantage of that and known, at least I recommended clean books, whew. She isn't frilly at all and has a bit of a modern side. You just think of summer when you see her. So, as I browsed the fabric over and over at the store when I saw this one I knew it was just what I wanted--on sale or not.
Buying the fabric is the hardest but my favorite part. I really try to study "my subjects" and find just what's right for them. Make it personal. This was a heavy duty fabric that could handle those softball games and traveling. It has more white than I would like but it should wash well. It's hard to tell but the stitch across the yellow is a leaf pattern that mimics some of the pattern in the fabric. I also didn't do any finishes on the edges so that they could fray over time. The worn look will be natural and handle her busy lifestyle. I gave her a book as well to kick off the summer.
Suzy Schumpert
Liam's teacher I didn't get to work with as often and it was hard to know what kind of bag she would need. But when I saw this fabric I immediately thought of her and what I wanted to do. I knew I would do ruffles for her.
She loves to garden and travel. She is classy, girly and loves the colors blue, red, and pink. This was a no-brainer. This fabric is gorgeous and it had her written all over it. I thought "this will be a quick bag." I love when I know just what I want to do.
Talk about a nightmare! The fabric pattern went a certain way so I had to sew it more like a pillowcase instead of the normal way. Then I had to determine where the bottom would be and how wide so I could judge how many ruffles I should make (because that all had to be sewn on first). The math was getting complicated on this one and I was starting to lose it. When I finally figured that out I had to decide what size I wanted the ruffles, which was trial and error. There is no easy way to measure ruffles. Thank goodness I have a ruffler--yeah right, I only broke one needle, apparently was trying to sew with a bent one causing ALL kinds of problems, and lots of knotted stitches. It was about a day just with ruffles and I had no phone to call my sewing machine guy for help. This is why you always keep the manual by your side! I finally got it all figured out and finished the bag.
It was huge! So big I thought I might have to redo it. I had my friend test it out to make sure it wasn't too large. She thought it was perfect and convinced me to keep it that size.
I miss her (our neighbor we were living with). I need to make her a bag.
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