Teacher Gift - Personalized Stationary Portfolio

This is my favorite teacher gift of the year.  Its for my favorite teacher, is full of stationary supplies which I have a soft spot for, and is pink and grey.  What more could you ask for?

I've made stationary portfolios before (here and here)  and they are fun to make and always well received.  As long as you gift them to someone who appreciates paper and pen and isn't a nose-stuck-in-a-cellphone all the time kind of person, that is.  :)

This one opens with a ribbon tie...

(back view, the ribbon is stitched down on the back)

...has lots of pockets inside for goodies...

... and is loaded with an assortment of papers, envelopes, stamps, a pen, etc.  

This teacher loves sending her kids notes so accompanying this portfolio will be a pile of fun notecards to replenish her stash and some personalized pads of paper (you know... from the desk of Mrs. So and So).  

I can't resist personalizing handmade gifts...

There you have it - a lovely pink and grey personalized stationary portfolio!  

It was so much fun to sew and to gift.  

We gave it to her yesterday and she loved it.  

Teacher Gift - Sturdy Rectangular 'Thirty-One' Rip Off Bag

The month of May means sewing for teachers.  We love our elementary school teachers so much its always a pleasure to sew for them.  The time and effort I put into handmade gifts is hardly enough to say thanks for all the hard work they put in week in and week out all year long.

This year we have a male teacher, which threw me for a little bit of a loop.  No handbags or frilly things allowed!  Instead, I opted for a sturdy, throw-anything-in-it kind of bag.  I roughly based my dimensions on this bag from 'Thirty-One' that I find extremely handy and use all the time.  This particular teacher has kids who are in sports so you can never have too many bags for snacks and gear.  

I thought I picked 'boy colors' but the first thing Keith said when he saw it was "Couldn't you find some manly fabric?"

This bag is home dec canvas on the outside, cotton lining, and a layer of that foam automotive headliner stuff in between.  (Its strange stuff to sew with but I'm getting used to it, it gives nice structure, and is far cheaper than the fancy quilt shop foam stabilizer.)  The bag stands up nice and sturdy all by itself.  The straps are purchased cotton webbing and they are super strong and were easier to attach/sew through than I thought they might be.  

No pockets, key rings, or fancy zips.  Mostly because I didn't think to add them until it was too late.  It'll be a chuck-it-in kind of bag rather than an organized purse.  This is a man teacher we're talking about.  :)  Also, on Leah's request I made three drawstring backpacks for his three kids.  They should have no lack of places to stash things this summer... 

Fundraiser Donations

'Tis the season for end-of-school fundraisers and this year is no exception.  Nothing exciting or fancy this year for us - our classroom's themed baskets were 'popcorn' and 'money tree'.  Popcorn?  Money?  Really?  In previous years we've done 'outdoor fun' or 'wizardry' or other things that I thought were more fun to sew for.  Oh well.  I decided on reusable snack bags for the popcorn basket and two little coin purses for the money tree basket.  

One afternoon of easy sewing - boom - donations done.  Maybe next year's themes will be more interesting.  

Pink Paris Bags - Tote Bag and Coin Purse

The tote bag fetish continues...

Leah received a homemade art bag a while ago.  I am happy to report that she uses it all the time and keeps lots of 'special' stuff in it.  Now it's Grace's turn to be toting a sketchbook and coloring materials around the house so she requested her own art bag.  

Hers, of course, must be pink.

Nothing too fancy, unless you count the pocket fabric with sparkly Eiffel towers on it.  :)  

Here it is, empty first, and then with her current stash of notebooks and papers.  

She also doesn't have a decent coin purse so I made one to match.  

Just large enough for a library card and some ice cream money.  :)  

I made the coin purse with d-rings on the sides because she already has a sturdy pink removable strap for her water bottle carrier.  She can pick and choose, or carry both the water bottle and the coin purse on one strap.  

Strap it on, hop on her pink and white bike (and there's a 99% chance she's wearing pink clothes), and she's good to go for summer errands!  

Quickie Baby Blanket

We were invited to an impromptu baby shower last week for a work colleague.  

I whipped up this fast blanket - just two layers of super soft minkee fleece.  

One larger sized (40'' by 50'' I think) stroller/cuddly blanket plus a little (12'' by 18'' or so) ribbon tag blanket to go with it. 

They know they are having a boy so I thought these colors were nice.  

I'd choose to spend an hour or so in the sewing room making a gift over shopping any day!