Monarch Mini Crossbody Bag

I mentioned in my last post that we’d been to visit our daughter and hubby in the Cincinnati area. While we were there, their neighbors/friends got a new puppy, and we got to meet him before we left. He’s an aussiedoodle (a cross between an Australian shepherd and a poodle), and isn’t he just super cute?! He’s only 9 weeks old here, so he’s going to be a BIG dog!

Fast forward to our being back home again, and I got a new pattern to test from Dog Under My Desk. This was designed to be a dog-walking bag, but could also be useful for other things. I was just going to make it for myself and leave off the doggie parts, but then I remembered the puppy and thought it’d be fun to make it for his owners. I consulted with Jess about it, and she thought it was a great idea. The pup’s name is “Cowboy”, and she said they’re going all out with the western theme. She said it’d be fun to make it with some kind of western-type fabric, but then said “but why would you have any of that?”

Ha! I occasionally buy grab bags of fabric, and I remembered that I did indeed have a western print… of all things, cowboys! Perfect, right? So then I decided waxed canvas would be just right for a western-type bag. Here it is:

The front has a zipper pocket as well as a slip pocket behind that.The back has another slip pocket, plus triangle rings so that you can remove the strap from the crossbody position, shorten it, and clip it on to the rings to change the bag into a waist pack. 

There’s a mesh pocket on one side that holds a small water bottle (in case the dog gets thirsty), and on the other side is a pocket to hold poop pickup bags that come on a roll and can be fed out through the hole to be very handily accessible.

The inside of the bag opens wide with a recessed zipper and is big enough to hold treats and maybe a toy or two. I used as much of the cowboy fabric in there as I could, to get it used up, because I doubt I’ll ever have another appropriate project to use it for.

I did have just enough fabric left to make a bandana for Cowboy. I had my favorite model, Miss C, model the whole ensemble for me before I shipped it off to Jess to give to their friends.

(How did she ever grow up so fast?!)

So there you have it… the whole long-story-not-shortened. The bag was very happily received a couple of days ago. Jess said a photo would hopefully be coming of Cowboy modeling his own bandana… once they can get him to hold still long enough… and not try to eat it. LOL He is a puppy, after all. I hope they enjoy their walks in the future.

Now I’m considering making a bag for myself from the same pattern, minus the side pockets. The hardest part is always choosing fabrics. Meanwhile, if you’re interested in making one for yourself, it’s called the Monarch Mini Crossbody bag, and you can find it here. This new pattern and all the others in the shop are at a 20% discount through August 3rd!

In my last post, I also mentioned that I was helping Courtney with a 4-H sewing project. She finished that about a week ago, and it only took three very focused afternoons of sewing. She did a beautiful job, and I sure wish I could show it to you right away… but it’ll have to wait. Judging is August 6th, if I remember right, so not terribly long to wait. The fair starts on August 17th. Anyway, you can be sure I’ll show you and brag on how great her project turned out! ;)

Fumeterre Skirts

What would you do if you received yards and yards of two different fabrics in the mail?

Just look at those tigers! What would YOU make out of fabric like that?

Well, if you had a daughter like mine, you'd make her a couple of skirts... at her request, of course. She wanted something besides shorts and capris to wear for summer... something cool and comfortable. This fabric fit the bill - it's very light and floaty cotton (the gray is chambray and the tigers one is lawn). It came from Oak Fabrics (again at Jess's request), along with a Fumeterre Skirt pattern by Deer and Doe, plus all the needed notions. (Thanks, Rachel!) 

There are two versions of the skirt, one with a button front, the other with a fly front and pockets. I made the button one first. There are eight panels in the skirt, and I did french seams! That's a lot of miles of stitching, but it gives a nice professional touch, especially for such light fabrics.

Here's a closer look at the fabric and waistband-in-progress.

I got it finished except for the hem and sewing on the ELEVEN buttons. Then I cut out the other version out of the tiger fabric. The next day I packed, and the following day we headed to Jess's in Newport, KY! Here's the yellow bridge that means we're almost there.

Voilà, the completed skirt!

Jess did most of the work on the second skirt, including the french seams. Here's proof!

The buttonholer on her machine wasn't very cooperative, though. We wasted half a day trying to get it to make a nice buttonhole, but it didn't like the seam allowances underneath, so we gave up and I made one just using zigzag stitching. It turned out acceptable. But thank goodness I'd done those ELEVEN buttonholes on my machine at home!

After all was said and done, we had some fun doing a photo shoot between their house and the neighbors'.

We spent nearly a week there and had a lovely time! After we left, Jess and Alex headed south for a vacation of their own. They stayed in a very cool, artsy hotel where Alex took some "glamour shots" of Jess in the tigers (which she loves and seems to be her favorite of the two).

Below I think she's showing how the two front panels just happened to end up with matching tigers side by side. Not preferable, but who's gonna notice (or care)?

They also visited a beautiful vineyard. Jess's red accessory may look familiar. If not, just back up a blog post. :)

I really enjoyed working on those skirts. The pattern was easy to sew, and I'd gladly make another one. 

However, I've already finished another pattern test, the results of which I'll show you once the pattern is released. AND... Miss Courtney started working on another 4-H project here yesterday, and I'm helping her with that. You'll have to wait till county fair time in August before I can show you, though. Clue: It's something sewn, but it's not a garment! :)