My first messenger/diaper bag!

For those of you who haven't known me IRL (or on Facebook), I've become seriously addicted to sewing. Like, ridiculously addicted. As in, every spare minute of the day, I'm either looking at fabric, thinking of fabric, making up patterns, and actually getting to sew.

I started out by making Rice/Flaxseed heating bags. They were too easy. I wanted something more fun, more practical... something people would use all the time. I decided to pick up my first few yards of Minky Dot fabric and make Marshall a "tag blankie". It was the first REAL thing I've made, and had no idea what I was doing. I just winged it.

Happy to say, Marshall LOVES his blankie! He carries it with him everywhere! It makes my heart swell with pride that something I made, brings him so much happiness. :)

My journey continued with another tag blankie, and then a real blankie with satin binding. Again, had no idea what I was doing... I just cut out fabric and did it. The binding didn't turn out the way I'd hoped, but again, it was a start. I did some research and found one way to do it that proved better on my second blankie, but I still wasn't entirely happy with it. I couldn't get my stitches to line up on the front and the back, because the stupid satin binding kept being squiggly and moving around!

Then I decided to try sewing it between the layers, instead of OVER the layers. That worked better.... tho it's still fidgety, and I don't really enjoy working with it!

I've sold 3 custom ordered blankies so far and a heating pack. So it's a start. I never had any intention of making my hobby into a business, but the more I make, the more I'd like to. I have my own facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/SaraHannaOriginals) and Etsy store (http://www.etsy.com/shop/MrsSaraHanna), tho I haven't sold anything on etsy yet. I don't expect to get rich or quit my day job, but I just love making things so much, I'm hoping to sell at least enough to be able to buy more supplies, so I can make more stuff!

Now, I spent last night making my very first messenger/diaper bag. The fabric that I got for my recent order didn't end up being quite what I'd hoped for, so I had to improvise a little bit. I wanted the giraffe fabric on the outside originally, and the pink and brown stripes for the inside. However, the giraffe wasn't as impressive as I thought it would be. It looked more like cow print! :P

So I ended up using the pink on the outside, and for the pockets inside. Let me tell you, this bag was quite fiddly to make at some points! And all because I used fusible interfacing. The Pellon 808 is a great, crisp interfacing and easy to iron on... but it REALLY does its job and can make it difficult to get into corners once things are all put together!

The buttons I bought don't seem the greatest either, which is a shame. I got them attached no problem on the first go (woo! Curse you, indecipherable instructions!), but they don't seem to like to stay together too well all the time. Whatever, it's my first bag, so I'm giving myself a break.

I'm also planning on putting snaps on the strap, so that I can snap it to my stroller when we go out with Marshall. I got the idea from this blog: http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2010/09/2-in-1-bag-stroller-bag-into-messenger.html

I modified her pattern though, to suit my needs. I didn't need a bag quite as big as hers, and I had an idea of the size I wanted to end up. So I had to do all the math to figure out what size to cut the pieces for everything, rather than follow her pattern. Also, despite liking her idea of having separate straps to attach the bag to the stroller, I liked my idea better of using one strap that's always attached to the bag, and then I can also use it to snap it to the stroller. I'll post photos of that once it's finished.

But anyways, here's the bag:

Also, I made a new sewing friend 2 days ago!! She's super sweet, we have loads in common, and she even BOUGHT me a book on Amazon and had it shipped to my house... THE NEXT DAY! It's the "Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing". I haven't had a chance to look at it yet (as I spent all afternoon yesterday gathering supplies and creating my bag), but I'm totally going to once I get off the computer (soon, I promise!).

Anyways, she has been an inspiration and has posted about the Friday Night Sew-In, which I've signed up for. And I'm totally excited for it!! :)

I'm going to start posting more about my sewing adventures in here, since it's the only blog I have. I don't often have time to blog, since any time my little man goes down for a nap (or to sleep for the night), I'm usually sewing (or sleeping, haha!). :)