My Fabulous New Work Bag

Commuting on the train to work requires me to carry a ton of crap at all times, so I need a bag big enough to accommodate said crap.  Last week my work bag finally bit it by ripping pretty much the entire way up the back of the bag.  It was time to bag shop!

Zappos is my go-to source for work bags.  They have a great selection and I can narrow down the size of the bags easily.  I need to fit the following things in my work bag:

• One 24 oz. Nalgene water bottle
• One 16 oz. travel coffee mug: I am in love with my Thermos leak-proof stainless steel mug.  I make my coffee around 6:00am and the coffee stays warm until at least 11:00am.
• Small purse to hold wallet and pill bottles: I get frequent migraines and I have seasonal allergies so I always make sure to keep these on me.
• Lunch box: With the exception of a treat every now and then, I pretty much always take my lunch.  Thankfully my wonderful husband packs it for me each night.  Isn't he the best??
• Craft bag: Most often this will contain knitting needles and yarn, but sometimes I mix it up and throw in an embroidery hoop and some floss.

 It may not look like much, but it's a lot to fit into one bag.  Shortly after starting my search, I happened upon, and fell in love with, this amazing tote.

It is made of coated canvas so I won't have to worry about my stuff getting wet on the days when I have to make a rainy trek to my building.  There are pockets on either side of the bag to hold my water bottle and coffee mug.  I'll no longer have to put up with my bottles falling over inside the bag!  The front has a pocket with a flap, and the back has a narrow pocket (perfect for a magazine or thin paperback) and a zippered pocket.

Here's a closeup of the front the flap and lining canvas.

And a closeup of the main body canvas.

The inside is packed full of pockets too!  There are two wide pockets on the inside front, which perfectly hold my cell phone, tissues, and gum.  On the inside back is another wide pocket, perfect for my iPod, and a zippered pocket, which holds my keys and train pass holder.  Speaking of my train pass holder, it still works out perfectly!  I attached the hook onto the inside zipper and the strap is still long enough so it can sit on the top of my bag for the conductor to see.  Isn't it nice when things work out?  Inside you can also see my craft bag and the small tote that I use as a purse.  And there's still plenty of room for my lunch box and anything else I might have to take home with me, like if I were to take a trip down the subway to visit Duross & Langel and Lush on my lunch break.  I'm not saying that will happen, but in the event that it does, I will have room to carry my one or two (or ten) purchases home in my tote and not have to carry an additional bag.  This is all hypothetical of course.

My tote arrived on Friday thanks to Zappos bumping my order up to next day shipping.  Aren't they great?  They have the best customer service.  When I pulled it out of the box, Nick agreed that it was awesome and said that it looked like something I would sew.  I told you he was the best!  The great thing is that the coated canvas is thick and durable and will definitely last me a few years' worth of commutes.

I looked super stylish carrying this bag to work this morning.  I'm finishing up something else that will increase my style points even more!  Stay tuned for the unveiling later this week!

Planning My Habitat Quilt

Sadly, not much sewing has been happening around these parts because of the frenzied I Spy bag workshop that our house turned into last week and running in the Broad Street Run on Sunday.  I have been doing some planning though!

A few weeks ago, I was thinking about my Habitat quilt and that I still needed to select sashing, backing, and binding fabric for it.  The closest fabric shop to me is about a 25 minute drive, and even though they have a ton of fabric to select from, I never seem to find the time to go there.  I would love to open a fabric shop in Newtown Borough where people want to shop and discuss and be creative.  Isn’t State Street just asking for such a place?  Think Spool or the Urban Craft Center but in Bucks County.  Then I could walk or ride my bike to buy fabric.  How wonderful does that sound? 



Image Source



I would just buy all of my fabric from Spool, but they aren’t very convenient to get to by public transportation and since I take the train to work it’s not exactly easy to swing by after work or on lunch.

Anyway, this is all leading up to what you might have already guessed: I caved in and ordered myself a Robert Kaufman Kona Color Card from Pink Chalk Fabrics!

Isn’t it glorious?  A couple of Saturdays ago I surrounded myself with all of the Habitat fabrics and went through the color card to pick out sashing and binding fabric.  I did miss the opportunity to ask the clerk what she thought of my choices, but I consulted with Nick, so at least I have someone whose taste I trust to bounce ideas off of!  I decided on white for the sashing since the Habitat prints are a bit busy and I didn’t want the quilt to be super crazy.  The border will be berry. 

The backing fabric will be Drop Cloth Blue from Jay McCarroll's Habitat line.

Image Source

I’m very excited to finally cut into this awesome and colorful fabric!  What projects have you had in mind but just can’t seem to get started on?

Pretty Things Thursday: Lisette Pattern Envelopes

Last month, Liesl Gibson, owner of the adorable and classy Oliver + S children’s clothing patterns, made many women’s dreams come true when she launched Lisette, a collection of patterns for us ladies.  I have always loved Oliver + S designs, but without a little person in my life I had absolutely no use for them other than to look at them and smile.  With the creation of Lisette, women now have access to the same clean and modern design that the Oliver + S patterns provide for children.

For some reason when I find something that I absolutely love I feel compelled to snatch it up right away.  I’m convinced that if I wait on it and see if it goes on sale in a few weeks that when I’m ready to finally purchase said item it will be unavailable.  Looking back, I know that it would have been insane for all of the Lisette patterns to be sold out immediately after launching, but all I could think of was the thousands of mothers of stylish children, regularly decked out in Oliver + S outfits of course, swarming stores, and leaving no patterns for the rest of us.  Completely illogical and insane?  Yes.  Still, that scenario was running through my mind, and I felt compelled to order one copy each of Passport, Market, and Traveler without hesitation.  I would have ordered all four, but I don’t think any of the options in Portfolio would look even remotely good on me—I can’t wear capris because of my sturdy ankles and I need more structure in a dress/shirt than a tunic can provide.

A couple of days later, this adorable package arrived in my mailbox.  The envelope art is so fresh and I love how they included styling suggestions for you as well.  I’m ready to whip up every one of these things!

I decided that I will make the Traveler dress in View C first.  Since I have a few projects in the works, I will only be starting on this once I finish my Crepe dress.  If I end up finishing my Roundabout Jacket before the end of my sewing class, I’m going to get started on the Passport jacket.  I have a couple of meetings that I should wear jackets to in the beginning of June (can you believe that I own exactly one suit jacket and it’s fall/winter weight?), so here’s hoping that all goes well and I can make two before then!  It would be even better if I can whip up two dresses or skirt/blouse combos to wear underneath!

What is better than a new line of awesome patterns?  When the designer also releases a collection of fabric to go with it!  Enter the Lisette fabric collection at Joann.  I allowed myself to purchase the fabric for my Traveler dress ahead of time because I had a 50% off coupon.  Since I’m still new at garment sewing, I have trouble deciding which fabric weight is appropriate for which dress.  Being able to pick from a line of fabrics that were selected with the accompanying patterns in mind eased my worries that I’d end up with another heap of fabric that I don’t know what to do with.  Or worse, go through the hassle of making a garment only to find out that it doesn’t hang properly, rendering it useless.  Unfortunately, I have had both happen to me.

For my Traveler dress, I went with the bright and lovely Blue Lisette Lawn.  I got a similar dress from Target a few years ago in cream with brown polka dots.  I’m hoping that the Traveler dress ends up fitting as perfectly as the Target dress.  I’ve been trying to find something similar for years, and now I have access to make as many as I want!  Hurrah!

Image from Joann.com

Tri-State Area friends: Still solidifying your weekend plans?  Check back tomorrow for details on a fun exhibit going on just across the Trenton Makes bridge!

Ruby Star Rising is Finally Mine!

Ever since seeing pictures from Quilt Market of Melody Miller's Ruby Star Rising line, I have been obsessed with snatching up some of the viewfinder print.  Obsessed!  And finally, it is mine!

I have True Up's Friday Sale Alerts to thank.  They kindly pointed me to Nido, which had almost all of the prints!  I had been telling myself that I would only order the viewfinder print because it was expensive and I really had nothing in mind to make with it, but then I came across this awesome collage of all of the prints in the line.  How could I not order a yard of this?

I just want to frame the entire thing so it can hang on the wall for me to admire every day.  I can't imagine how long it's going to take me to cut into this fabric.  I'm sure I'll spend at least a year deciding what is worthy of these amazing prints.  I can see those utensils on a half apron, but would I use the half apron enough to justify cutting the fabric?  These are the decisions I'll have to make!

Much to the dismay of my family, I have spent my life, up until about a year ago, not being a tea drinker.  Lately I have discovered a love for chai tea.  It's a nice way to break up the afternoon at work, and the smell always reminds me of Christmas.  I would love to have afternoon chai with these stylish ladies.  I would need to break out a fancy teapot for their company.  More like steal one from my mom, but you get the point.

Transistor radios?  Seriously?  They kind of look like scales to me from afar, so my first thought is to use this strip to embellish some dish towels.  I'll let that one mull over for a bit though.  I don't want to make any hasty decisions!

I can't get enough of these utensils, and they're right next to my beloved viewfinders.  Swoon!

And let's throw in some elephants to add a little cuteness!

These mugs remind me of the Pyrex dishes that I got from my grandmother.  Only classy mugs for those classy tea ladies!  I am beyond delighted with this collage of sorts.  Such decisions to be made!

But now on to my first Ruby Star Rising love: the viewfinders.  As a true child of the 80s, I had a viewfinder.  I loved how the light poured through the image when you put it up to your face and the click of the slides as they advance.  It was magical.  And yet I can't remember any specific sets of slides that we had.  I'm sure they had to do with animals.

Aren't they glorious?

I love how you can actually read the text on the slides.  I have no idea what I'll be using this fabric for, but I know it's going to need to be something that I come into contact with every day.  I need these viewfinders in my daily life!  You better snatch up some while you still can!

I Love Scouting

Last week I was perusing blogs and stumbled across a tote bag that Jaybird Quilts made for a friend’s daughter out of GIRL SCOUT PATCHWORK FABRIC!  I freaked out for a minute because I’m on a self-imposed fabric-buying moratorium.  But then I decided that I had an obligation to buy myself some of this crazy awesome fabric.  I picked up a yard each of:



All images are from Robert Kaufman

 I have no idea what I’m going to do with them yet, but they are now safe in my fabric stash for whenever inspiration strikes.  I’m thinking that I might make a patch out of the patches fabric for my daypack for our Great Western Adventure (which is what we're calling our cross-country roadtrip that we're taking in August).  I’ll have to earn those patches first!

I love the idea behind Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts.  An organization whose mission is to “build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place” is awesome in my book.  I was a Daisy and a Brownie, but never officially made it to be a Girl Scout.  I considered myself an honorary Girl Scout from tagging along at my sister’s Girl Scouting events since my mom was their troop leader.  We moved in between when I was a Daisy and Brownie, and my Brownie troop activities just didn’t cut it, so I eventually dropped out.  Still, my family still sings the Johnny Appleseed song before meals.  We even sung it at our wedding!  No one but my family and a few family friends knew it, but it was still a great way to kick off our reception.

Scouting is great because you get to learn a ton of awesome life skills that you might not learn anywhere else!  Plus they also incorporate the whole volunteering thing, which is great for kids to get into at a young age.  Generally, I love anything that involves making things and getting dirty.

We found old Boy Scout and Girl Scout handbooks at a book fair last year.  Admittedly, the Boy Scout book is way cooler than the Girl Scout book.  

The illustrations are  so classic and amazing.  The whole thing is full of a million subjects.

Here we have information about animal bites.

Historically significant things in US history!

The good old Skill Awards section.

Of course, camping skills.

And how to tie knots.

Even the cycles of the Earth!  Why this is included in this book, I'm not entirely sure.  But it sure is a great illustration!

Then they move on to the Special Scouting Opportunities, which takes scouting up a notch.  This section includes National High-Adventure Programs, pretty much mega adventures (which sound awesome, btw), Activities and Skills, such as a mile swim and foreign language interpreting, and Heroism Awards (self explanatory, but I'm not sure how often boy scouts will have the opportunity to carry a small child to safety, as is pictured).

Basically this book has information about everything you would ever need to know in life, which is probably why Eagle Scouts are so resourceful.  And is exactly why we'll be bringing this along for reference on our Great Western Adventure.

Fabric Storage Cart

Since we were in Conshohoken picking up Nick's very pretty brand new Toyota Matrix (his car died a couple of weeks ago), we decided to swing by Ikea afterwards and test out the storage space.  We only had a half an hour before we needed to head back home, so it was one of the quickest and most organized Ikea visits we have ever had.  I wish I could say it was the quickest, but we once were able to be in and out within 10 minutes.  I doubt this will ever happen again.  The key to a quick Ikea trip is to not go up to the showroom.  Even if you tell yourself that you're going to walk quickly through some sections and only go to, say, the kitchens, you are kidding yourself.  You will get stuck looking at things that you have absolutely no interest in buying.  This is part of the magic of Ikea.

I picked up a simple rolling cart that had basket drawers.  It fits perfectly in the closet in our office.

Once Flick realized that there was a space underneath, he needed to investigate.  I hope it meets his standards!

The sample that was put together only had three baskets, and now that it is put together I realized that we can fit another basket on the bottom.  Even better!  It's nice that I can roll it out if I need to get to the large filing cabinet that is to the left of the cart, but I like that I can keep it in the closet and pull the drawers out if need be.

Now we have a reason to go back to Ikea.  Isn't that always how it works?