I Don't Feel Old

I used to babysit a lot when I was a young teenager. I can remember saving all of my money that I made so that when we made our annual trip to Albuquerque I could shop for clothes. I got a call a few weeks ago from a friend of my dad's who wanted to order a bag for his daughter. She was about to have her first baby. He thought she'd like a tote that she could use for the baby and then hopefully use for a purse later. I used to babysit his daughter when she was a baby. I really don't feel like I am this old! So this tote was a new challenge. Maggie and I needed to create a bag that could easily transform from one function to the next.

When we pull fabric, Maggie and I are down on the floor arranging and rearranging fabrics that we think will work. It took a little while to get this bag going. We knew we needed it be pink but it had to be mature. There is something about pink and brown that warms our hearts. We used a fabric that resemble animal print that we found in a girls blouse. We also used a camoflouge print from a girl's skirt.

We've been doing a lot of work with old t-shirt jersey and I had an idea to make our own fabric from a pink t-shirt. We used the "new" t-shirt fabric on the front of the bag in our traditional squares but also decided to use it for the sides of the bag.  I LOVE the way this turned out and will definitely be using this technique again.  It gives the bag a feathery and feminine feel.

Jersey is so fun to work with because it doesn't fray and if you pull it will will curl. 

The bag has a small pocket on the front and the back.  We decided since the bag was going to be used for a baby too, that the lining should be softer than our burlap and it needed to have a few pockets for all of the goodies a mom carries for baby.  So we used the fabric and pockets from a pair of men's cargo shorts.  The inside wound up having four pockets on the inside. 

I am really proud of this bag.  I already have plans to utilize this same technique in a couple of other bags we have planned.  We shipped this bag and have gotten a report back that the new mommy really loved her new bag.  Hopefully baby will love it too!

Here is are some pictures of our babies so you can see how busy and blessed our lives are each day.