Batch of Water Bottle Holders

I've made water bottle holders before and we find ours to be very handy.  We use them on bike rides all the time and for various other outings.  It makes Mom's bag so much lighter if she doesn't have to carry three or four water bottles!

I whipped up this batch of 11 earlier this spring for a fundraiser event.

I've got the pattern (self-drafted) down pat and if you make them assembly line style it goes pretty fast.  As a bonus I was able to use up a bunch of fabric scraps and get them out of my stash for a good cause (thats the reason for the random variation in strap lengths).

For this batch, I refined and streamlined the process of adding the stretchy pocket and that worked out great.  My coverstitch machine did a good job of attaching elastic to the stretch net, and by making the pocket piece its own panel I was able to topstitch on all sides to make it nice and sturdy.

Teacher Gifts 2017 - Tote Bag and Mug Rug

Teacher gifts were pretty simple this year.  I have found that as the kids grow into upper elementary school and I volunteer less in their classrooms, teacher gifts become less intense.  We've formed less of a relationship with the teachers so the gifts are less personal, in a way.  I still do enjoy making something handmade, though.

Grace requested a tote bag for her teacher.  Perfect - easy to sew and useful.  I've made a zillion of these so this gift was ready in a day.  The fabric is duckcloth from Hobby Lobby, I believe.   I didn't have quite enough to match the print on both sides so I just made each side as symmetrical as I could.   Its a bit hard to tell the size/scale, but the bag holds a good sized stack of notebooks/papers or a laptop easily.  My go-to measurement for totes is to start at 16'' square for each side and then box the bottom by an inch or two.

One handy pocket.  

Leah's wanted to decorate a coffee cup for her teacher so I made a quick mug rug to go with it.  Leah requested purple (no surprise) and that I 'make it math-y' because her teacher is the math specialist and loves to tell math jokes and try to get kids excited about math.  I embroidered the symbols with regular DMC floss.  We included the teacher's favorite candy with the mug rug and cup. 

I'm not sure I love the overall result, but it worked.   One of these years maybe I'll just make the teacher gifts in the style I want, with the fabric I choose rather then letting the kids help plan.  

That wrapped up Teacher Gifts 2017... pretty quick and easy this year.  

On to summer projects!