I wanted to try and sew some presents this Christmas. Here is a tote bag for my little cousin that she can use to carry around her colouring books and crayons. The cupcake fabric is from Joanns.

DIY Instructions
The bag is really easy to make All you have to do is sew on 2 large strips of fabric (a seam on the left, bottom and right edge of the fabric, leaving the top open because this is where the crayons will go) to the front of the bag, and then measuring 1 inch apart, sew lines vertically across each strip. You can use tailors chalk to mark the vertical lines (it comes off when you iron it). Other than that, it's just like a regular tote bag. I used piping at the top of the pockets, but if you don't have any on hand, it doesn't really matter if you leave it out!

The bag:


Here is what the fabric actually looks like (my flash washed out the pics, but I was too lazy to go downstairs and take them again):


Close up of the pockets:

I've decided that this year I'm going to try and make as many Christmas presents as possible. Here is the first one that I've finished so far. It's a hat for my mom! She's going on vacation in the new year and has a hard time finding hats that fit because she has a pretty big head. Umm, I figure that I'm allowed to make fun of it because I also have a big head haha. I used Amy Butler's Sky Hat pattern. It was really easy to follow and took about 3 hours to finish. Fingers crossed that it fits and she likes it

Halfway through the sewing process I ended up adding a layer of heavy interfacing to the brim of the hat because I thought that is was a bit too floppy.

The hat:



A view from the top:



If you are curious, here is what the pattern looks like on a real head!

What a great bag!

Thanks Yes, I think that I'll have to search for the same size insert for 2009, then I'll be organized from January instead of starting in Nov. haha.

Sooo I know that mid-November is kind of late to decide that it's time to get organized and have an agenda, but on the upside you can say that it's better late than never 

I couldn't find anything that I liked at Staples, so I ended up buying a cheap, plastic agenda. I've got lots of scrap fabric lying around and I found a piece that was big enough for the outside piece.

I decided to eyeball the size of the agenda cover and it ended up being too big so I had to sew some extra seams at the top and the bottom of the agenda to make it more snug:



It closes with a magnetic snap:



Another ooops  the flaps of the agenda cover weren't large enough to hold it in. I used a piece of elastic, sewn in the middle of the organizer that I could then slip the back of the agenda underneath so that it won't fall out:



Here is a pic of the original plastic agenda:



Now I'm all set until December 31st.....2008 hehe.

Thanks guys  I was a bit sad to use up the last of this fabric, but a little bit happy too because I love it when I can actually make my scrap fabric pile shrink!

Last night I started sewing a camera bag for my new camera. I decided to use a small scrap of the blue panda fabric that had been hanging out in my fabric stash for a couple of months. The fabric scrap was actually quite small, probably half the size of a fat quarter (1/4 yard). For the lining I used some quilted fabric for protection and another piece of scrap aqua fabric.



I sewed a large piece of velcro to the flap and main body of the camera bag. Originally I wanted to use a metal clasp, but the bag is really small so I didn't have a small enough clasp on hand.



There is a zigzagged rectangular opening on the side for the camera strap to hang out of. I had to rip it out the first time because I made the hole too small 



This last picture is to give you a better idea of the size of the camera case. It fits in the palm of my hand. I found that it was more difficult to sew a tiny bag of this size because I couldn't slip it over the arm of my sewing machine when I was sewing the layers together.

Sooo cute!

katshe: I bought the purse frame in Seoul before I moved back to Canada  I didn't have a pattern so I ended up winging it a bit. First, I measured the frame and made a casing (that's the solid black material hugging the frame). Then I measured fabric the same width and played around with it to make the body of the bag. I'm still trying to figure out what the correct name for the frame is because I imagine someone must sell them online!

Cute applique!