Getting Creative

I have wanted to learn how to sew for a really long time. There are so many things I look at and think "if only I could sew, then I could...." It is just a really useful thing to know how to do. Not to mention, we are a family of short people so we spend a fortune on getting our pants hemmed. I hope this will be a thing of the past now.

For Mother's Day, Roland got me my long awaited sewing machine. I have anxiously been awaiting my first project. I chose to make church totes for Weston and Natalie. These kids have the hardest time sitting still in church or even sometimes getting dressed for church. My intent in making these bags was to have something exciting for them on Sunday to want to go to church. This is their personal little bag that they can put their snacks in and toys for church.

(Ignore the mullet - I did just get my hair cut this week so it is gone now)

I stole the pattern from a post my sister-in-law said was going to be her first sewing project and just made the dimensions a little smaller for a kid-sized bag. You can find the directions here.


I was so surprised with how easy it was - especially with no experience at all (other than a little sewing class I did as a kid one summer - oh and some pajama pants I made as an early teen). I even had a little assistant to make it even a little easier. My wonderful husband is so supportive. He helped cut out the fabric, pin it in place for me, and even helped to interpret a confusing part of the instructions. What a stud!


I was rather impressed with how well they turned out and thought they were really cute. The kids even went to the fabric store with us to pick out the fabric they wanted for their bags. Natalie would not stop staring at her little pink ninja monkey fabric. She had the biggest smile on her face when she was holding it. I think it is random, but if she likes it, that is all that matters. I think it turned out really cute. It fits her personality perfectly. The little smiles on the monkeys look just like her smile!


I made Weston's bag first which took about 3-4 hours because I had to learn how to use my machine. It took me fifteen minutes alone to thread the dumb needle. Oh well. Once I got all of the logistics figured out, it was smooth sailing. I did Natalie's the next night and it only took about an hour and a half. Much better!



I think they turned out to be a success though. We tested them out this past Sunday. The kids were really excited. They both love bags and always love to pick up my purse and sling it over their shoulders so this was just perfect. They were both super excited to have their own special bags that they got to carry. It was so cute watching them walk to the car and into church with them.


We still had an incredibly restless church meeting, but I am still pleased with the bags. After all, I can't expect it to be a miracle worker! Now on to the next project!