Super Tote for a Baby Shower

A very good friend of mine with whom I went to college, is having a baby coming up in October.  She is about 5 years younger than me and like a sister.  She is one of those friends that you can go for months without speaking and then pick right up where you left off.  I adore her so much and I am so excited for her little one, Jackson, to arrive in a few months.

I wanted to do something very special for her, however, a quilt was out because one of her family members has already taken on that task.  After a lot of contemplation, I settled on a bag with the intention of filling it with all kinds of goodies.  I love making bags and I know for a fact that a girl can never have too many bags.  I chose Anna Graham's Super Tote Bag.  The bag is large and has a lot of internal pockets for her to put diapers, bottles, cloths and whatever else it is that babies need to function.

I loved the recessed zipper as well, it adds such a beautiful, professional-looking touch.

I've had this Cotton and Steel fabric sitting in my stash for the longest time and I am obsessed with it.  It popped out at me as the a perfect fit for my good friend.  I am glad that it has found a good home.

I've only started to create the goodies to go inside, but so far I have a diaper clutch that will hold wipes, diapers and will fold out into a changing pad.  It turned out a little smaller than I had hoped, so she may only be able to use the changing pad part for a few months.  I used Bonnie Christine's 'Hello Bear' fabric for the clutch which I think is perfect for a baby boy. I will also add some hand made bibs and burp cloths (I have a full half yard bundle of the line to play with) but I am at a loss for further items.  Obviously I can add some diapers and bottles but I really want to put more hand-made items as well.

Any ideas?

Xoxo,
-A

Noodlehead Caravan Pouch

So I have 3 days off in a row this week and all I want to do is sew sew sew.  I mean, it's summertime, the weather is beautiful and I should be outside but I just don't want to.  It would be nice if I could bring my machine outside, which I guess in theory I could but then I'd take my contained sewing mess and transfer it outside and then I'd probably fight with my husband about it...so I'll just keep it inside and feel slightly guilty about it.

Lately, I've been into sewing accessories.  Pouches, bags, lunch boxes, camera straps, wristlets...I seem to go in cycles.  There are times that all I want to do is quilt.  So I'll do that for a while and finish (or start) a bunch of projects and then all of a sudden all I'll want to do is makes garments.  So I'll do that for a while until I'll just feel like sewing something else.  Eventually, I'll come back to quilts, or garments, or whatever the prior obsession was and the cycle will start all over again.  Does that ever happen to any of you?

So anyway, yesterday I made this Caravan Pouch created by Anna over at Noodlehead.  I love her patterns so much.  They are always so precise and beautifully photographed and easy to follow.  The finished products are gorgeous.  Now this pouch is actually a free addition to her Caravan Tote created as a tote for knitting or crochet materials.  Now I tried my hand at knitting and I didn't stick with it for very long, so I plan on using it for lugging all of my nursing supplies to and from the hospital.

I don't yet have all the supplies in hand to make the tote but I was itching to try this pattern, so I just made the pouch so far.  Needless to say, I adore it.  I added a removable strap because I tend to carry things around my wrist or else I lose them.  It's good to know one's faults eh?

Xoxo,
A

Leather Accent Fold Over Pouches by LBG Studios make amazing gifts

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned, actually I don't remember since it's been almost a year since I posted last, but I am a Registered Nurse.  Recently, I moved back from Florida to my hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

This happened for a multitude of reasons which I won't get into at the moment, but one of the bigger reasons is for my job.  I've wanted to be an Oncology Nurse since I first started nursing school.  Down in Florida, I worked on an Oncology unit but it was mostly med/surg and complications of treatment.  It was a great intro into nursing and a great first job, but I really wanted to be involved in more of the treatment and research.  There is an amazing hospital near my hometown that does Bone Marrow Transplants and has an amazing cancer unit, and I was lucky enough to get a job there.

So, while I am already a registered nurse, there are a lot of policies and procedures and techniques in nursing that differ from facility to facility.  As a result, when a nurse starts at a new facility, they must go through a very long and intense orientation where a preceptor or preceptors teach and guide you until you are ready to be on your own.  I am now two weeks from being on my own and I have had some amazing preceptors that I wanted to thank.

I had a slight idea of what I wanted to make for them, it had to be versatile and classy.  Enter the Leather Accent Fold Over Pouch by LBG Studios.  You can find the pattern here.   This pattern is so well written.  It is honestly the most beautiful pouch I have made to date, and thanks to the amazing instructions, I didn't have to rip one stitch.

For the accents, I used suede from the company Leathercraft, found at Joann's.  It is thick and beautiful.  For the blue pouch, I used Hawthorne Thread's screen printed fabric title 'Rhythmic' in indigo.  For the pink pouch, I used a piece from Bonnie Christine's "Winged" line.  I embroidered the monograms with my Janome 350e.

They come together so easily and flawlessly. Good thing too, because I've got 2 more to whip up...