Once in awhile, the perfect fabric presents itself just in time for the perfect project.
Enter, monkeys…
My daughter and her best friend have January birthdays two weeks apart. Her friend loves monkeys and has a bright pink stuffed monkey that goes everywhere with her. I came across this monkey fabric in my collection while working on another project, and I knew it was perfect for a quick birthday gift.
I decided on a tote bag. I cut two pieces of the monkey fabric 14″ by 16″. Because the print is directional, I seamed the pieces so that the monkeys would be facing the same direction on both sides of the bag. I layered the print on top of two layers of Warm and Natural cotton batting and a solid pink for the lining, and machine-quilted the fabric in a diagonal 1 1/2″ grid pattern.
To personalize the bag, I used the block letter monogram function on my Bernina 150 to stitch her name, and “Happy 10th Birthday” on lengths of 1/2″ twill tape. I stitched the twill tape onto strips of the pink cotton lining fabric and sewed them onto the quilted rectangles.
Then I made straps to match the monogrammed strips. After that I finished the bag’s construction by stitching up the side seams, folding the top edge 2″ to the inside, and attaching the straps.
One last finishing touch was to square off the bottom of the bag, which, in addition to the two layers of batting, gives the bag shape and stability.
I hope my daughter’s friend likes her new tote bag! Of course, my daughter has requested one for herself now, so my project list continues to grow! She wants fabric with either horses or ice skates, neither of which I have in my stash, so I guess I need to go fabric shopping!
What a shame!
I enjoy projects that are both fun and functional.
Have you used your sewing skills to make something you needed lately? Tell me about it in the comments…
Thanks for stopping by the Hollow…
Blessings,
Kristine Zerby
hiddenhollowblog 