Notebook Organizer

This project is another gift for a teacher.  I've had these notebook organizer plans floating around in my head for a while - it seems like everywhere I turn is another cute fabric-covered notebook that I want to copy/make.  I'm toying with the idea of using these as end-of-the-year teacher gifts this year.  I've done bags in the past and (especially since we have a repeat teacher this year) I'm thinking it might be time to shake it up and try something new.

One of the girls has had a great student teacher this year that's been with them longer than usual and whom my daughter has really taken a liking too.  Her time in the classroom is up soon so I wanted to make her a little something before she leaves.  The timing worked out well.  I needed a quick gift and I wanted to test out making a notebook organizer.  Student teacher and trial-by-fire project - they were meant for each other!  :)

I'm pleased with how it turned out.  

I pieced the front from scraps of a quilt with a little lace for fun.  

(The back is plain purple - I forgot to take a picture of that and it has already been gifted.)

It closes with a button and elastic loop on the right side.  

It opens to a 5'' by 8'' notepad on the right, a slot in the center for a pen, and two pockets on the left side.  

There is another pocket under the notepad as well.  

Actually, the notepad fits totally inside the pink pocket if you'd like it that way - I just thought it was fun to slide only the back cardboard part of the notepad into the pocket so the paper hangs out.  

I made up the pattern off the top of my head and the measurements of the notepad.

If I make it again, I'll tweak the shape of the tan polka dotted pocket so its a little larger/more secure.  

I'll also play around with different combinations of interfacings, battings, and stabilizers.  This one is cotton fabric, one layer of batting, and then I slid some stiff stabilizer into the two sides before stitching it closed.  It's some kind of handbag stabilizer I had laying around, almost like a template plastic.  It worked pretty well and the finished organizer was a nice blend of fabric/batting so it felt 'soft' but was still stiff enough to keep its shape and not get mashed up in a purse.    

This definitely has potential for teacher gifts and I think I just might need one myself - grocery lists can be pretty, can't they?  :)  

Tote Bags (4)

Tote bags are my go-to gift for teachers at the end of the school year.  They are fun to personalize and, most importantly, a USEFUL gift for teachers.  One can only have so many apple dittys and/or wreaths made from crayons, right?  My girls have been at their current school for four years now so word is starting to spread that I sew and I have gotten a few commission sewing jobs here and there.

Recently, a teacher asked for some tote bags and I was happy to oblige.  She requested one for herself, one for each of her two kids, and then one for her classroom.

I sized/patterned these bags after another bag I made this same teacher and after my favorite tote bag.  Its roughly 16'' by 16'' with a boxed corner and a 28'' strap.  Very simple, but very functional.  They are large enough to carry around a wad of papers to grade or Sunday School teaching materials but not so large that things get lost in the depths of the bag.  

The teacher's personal bag is a fun grey swirly canvas (so it coordinates somewhat with her previous grey bag).  It is lined with canvas and has a layer of batting in between.  The straps on all these bags are sturdy nylon webbing covered in fabric.  This has become my favorite strap method because it makes a super sturdy strap that doesn't get all floppy with use but it still matches the bag.  

The bag for her daughter has a hand embroidered name on one side and a outside pocket on the other side.  I think the mom intends these bags to be used for carrying kid gear on trips.

Similar design for her son.  The two kid's bags are 100% cotton (outside, lining, and pocket) with one layer of batting.  

The classroom snack bag is embellished with fun felt letters.  I used double sided fusible web on the letters and then stitched them down for durability.  This bag is made from black sturdy canvas as it gets dragged (sometimes literally) back and forth to school each day by a different student.  I used up a piece of not-so-beautiful stripe I had laying around for the lining of this bag and I didn't cover the straps so they are plain white nylon webbing (the store was out of black nylon webbing and I was just a tad short on having enough canvas to cover them).   

Four fresh totes in roughly one week of home sewing time - not bad!

  

The next project is a another teacher-related thing... probably posted in a few days or so.  

Art Bag Misfire

Hmmm.... this bag.  I had such big dreams for this bag and then time got short and I ended up whipping it up in one day with so-so results.   I've never been a procrastinator and creating under pressure never goes well for me.

My dream bag was a super organized art supply carrying case for my nine year old.  It would be a portfolio style bag with a 'flap' on the side that would open like a book to reveal cool storage.  I envisioned all these custom pockets for her favorite gel pens, good pencils/erasers, fancy markers, clear vinyl with zippers so you could see what was in each pocket, fun hardware to close the 'flap' against the pocket/portfolio part, etc etc etc.

In the end she got a box tote, no cool flap, a regular pocket on one side and a subdivided pocket on the other.  I even topped it off by mis-measuring so the proportions are a bit off, the straps are too far apart, and it barely holds the sketchbook I bought for inside it.  Oh well.  You can't win them all.  Thankfully, I hadn't told her anything and she doesn't know about the dream bag inside my head so she was happy as a clam to receive this bag on her birthday.  I even made it in garish purple and yellow with owls - her current favorite motif.

Maybe someday I'll make the real dream bag.  For now I'll enjoy the fact that she loves this one and I won't shed any tears when this one gets dragged around outside and gets all dirty.  :)

Apron and Kitchen Towel Set

How cute is this apron?  

I know, thats pretty vain since I obviously made it, but I still think its adorable.  It is a gift for my sister's wedding shower this weekend along with some embellished towels.  I was at Hobby Lobby and loved the graphic black and white print and then stumbled across some cool ruffled ribbon to use for the straps/ties.  With ruffly ribbon for ties, the bottom of my standard apron pattern was screaming for a matching ruffle and I couldn't resist adding a little bling in the form of three sparkly buttons on the bib portion.   I have made this apron pattern before (here and here for sure) and it is easy and comes together nicely.  Each time I seem to embellish it differently and each time I think its nice.   It is very easy to adjust the size or shape to suit your needs (I had to make this one a bit skinnier to fit my ruffle.)  

Here are some close up photos of... 

the bib portion:  

the ruffly ribbon ties: 

the ruffle on the bottom:  

The apron is lined on the back in black so, technically, its reversible to plain black.

Along with this apron will be these kitchen towels, purchased and embellished with grey and black/white fabric strips.  The strips are cotton and I pre-washed both the cotton fabric and the towels so everything is properly preshrunk. 

There were three plain flour sack towels with these embellished ones, so nine towels total.