Backpacks and Bags Completed

I finished sewing messenger bags and backpacks for the cousins. They turned out pretty good. It was a chance to make some bags and backpacks so I could work on my sewing skills and not have five copies of the same project around my house not getting used. Christmas was a great reason to make new projects and remake the others.

Enjoy cousins and Merry Christmas!

Toddler backpacks for the younger cousins. (These did not have lining in them yet.)

Messenger bags for the two older cousins. I love the tractor fabric with coordinating striped lining. Cute outside pocket!

 I thought the "appliqued" letter in a colorful circle would be a great addition to the bag to help breakup the pattern. Adds character.

 A look at the inside. This time the inside pocket was inserted on the correct side. I wasn't paying attention too well with the first one (tractor one) and the pocket ended up on the inside/front instead of the inside/back. There is also a pocket on the outside of the bag where the flap closes, it's just not in the photo. (See open tractor bag).

All of the completed bags, including lining for the backpacks.

Filled with goodies!

*The patterns for the backpacks and messenger bags came from a book: Oliver + S Little Things to Sew: 20 Classic Accessories and Toys for Children by Leisl Gibson. I didn't follow the patterns exactly. I altered/used the parts I liked most and made them my own creation.

Santa Photo: Past and Present

There is a photo of my and my twin taken when we were about a year old. We are wearing yellow overalls and sitting on Santa's lap. I've always thought it was a cute picture and loved the yellow overalls.
 
For the past couple of years I have been on the lookout for yellow overalls and hadn't been able to find any. I think I saw some at Wal-mart when I was pregnant with my son and at the time I didn't know if I was having a boy or girl or how big the baby would be before it would be able to wear the overalls. When I had an idea of what size I might need for them and went back to get them they were nowhere to be found. It's one of those things: should've gotten when I saw it because it's no longer there when I want it. I hate it when that happens.

So, I've been on the lookout for yellow overalls ever since. Then it dawned on me one day that I could probably make them. I searched blogs and other online resources for tutorials, instructions, and possibly a pattern. Ashley, from Make It and Love It, had made some overalls for her son. She used the same pattern for the pants I was going to use from Dana, dana-made-it.com. She didn't have a tutorial or anything but her post was a great place to get me started.

I found some corduroy fabric in white, couldn't find the yellow I wanted. I knew Dana, www.dana-made-it.com, had a tutorial on dyeing fabric so I read that. I even emailed her a question and she answered it. She was very helpful, so thank you Dana.

Getting a response from someone who inspires you is awesome. It's kind of like when I taught gymnastics and one of the women's Olympic champions called to give us some information about a camp the team girls were attending. I'm thinking, I cannot believe I am talking to Svetlana Boginskaya, Olympic gymnast. This is so cool! You know that feeling?

Ok, back to fabric. So I dyed the fabric yellow and eventually got the color I wanted. Then cut out my patten and tweaked my design till I got what I wanted and created two cute pairs of yellow overalls.

 Yea for me!

I took the kiddos to the mall yesterday to see Santa. The main goal was to get a picture of both of the kids wearing yellow overalls with Santa.

Mission Accomplished!

The girl wasn't happy about being left with Santa but the last photo that was taken she wasn't crying. It's a winner! We gave her some bells to play with, which helped calm her down enough to snap the photo.

It's not exactly the same but my goal was accomplished.

You guys look so cute in those overalls!

This...turns into this

I started with this...

 Plain white corduory fabric.

It turned into this...

I dyed it yellow. Lemon yellow.

 It was too lemony for me. So I found some golden yellow dye.

Then, it turned into this. Golden yellow. Or as I call it Sunshine yellow.

No more lemony yellow.

 I know, you can't tell the difference from the photos, but take my word for it, it was lemony yellow and way too bright for what I wanted it to be. It is still a bright yellow and could have used a little more time in the golden yellow dye, but it will work.

And then it turned into this...

Cute overalls for the boy and the girl.

 For the Girl                                                                   For the Boy