I CAN POST ABOUT SOMETHING OTHER THAN A BAG (but first you have to read about the monk bag!)

Now that plans are being finalized for the second-every-few-years-or-so-Hathaway Daughters Chick-Trip (we really need to shortened that), the trip to the Oregon Coast to our favorite Bed and Breakfast, a trip to Hawaii, a trip to Washington DC for a wedding, and a trip to Utah (whew! What a summer! Yay!) I am in the market for a fabulous travel bag. It needs to have wide shoulder straps so my loot doesn't break my neck, it's got to just drop stuff in - camera, water bottle, maps and have a zipper pocket for my monies. A monk bag fit the bill.

I still need to get a zipper to try adding a zippered pocket. I also added a magnetic snap to the top of this one so that the goods don't dump out.

I think this may be my favorite bag of the four. Even if the pockets are wonky. Which they are. My eyes must be crooked. I got the pattern tutorial here at the Purl Bee.

The bag does look great on Sari but she will not be going on the Chick Trip. She'll have to wait until The Summer Before Her Senior Year.

Made another one - a prototype for my height challenged friend (she's tall) and I would think that she has a hard time finding cross-shoulder bags that don't get stuck under her armpits. I am thinking anyway ... I wouldn't know what it's like to be tall. (And while at my above mentioned friend's house, she has INDEED offered me a PHONE BOOK to sit on! And I needed it but I refused because of my short pride.)

AND ANOTHER ONE - becuase I know that you all have missed seeing my crafties

My house is a wreck, but I am really motivated to knock some projects off because there is some great fabric from a new designer named Lizzy Dish but I promised myself no more new fabric until I have some room to stash it! Or at least until I whittle it down a little.

I made this bag before. You can see it here. You'll have to scroll down about half way. It is the Birdie Sling by Amy Butler and it is super big and sturdy. This time I thought I would use lighter-than-recommended interfacing and the lining is lighter fabric, too. I also made it a smidge smaller.

Note to self, don't adjust patterns. I think the straps are too short for comfort. Update - while shopping on Saturday I noticed that a lot of purses are going with shorter straps and big bags under them so maybe this is just right after all. Sari declared it perfect and took it to her room.

When I found a turquoise zipper, I knew it was MEANT TO BE! So this bag even has a ZIPPERED POCKET!

ANOTHER BAG

I had a little purple owl fabric left over from my previous project and so I made another bag. (You can't have too many, right?)

Well, maybe you can. I might send this one off to someone ...

And the inside. Too exciting, I know. I was going to put in a ZIPPERED POCKET (my new favorite thing to sew) but then I remembered - I need a ZIPPER to sew into the ZIPPERED POCKET. Oops. A quick look confirmed my worse fear - the bright red 22 inch zipper, the only one in my stash, would NOT do. Oh well.

This simple bag pattern from SewBaby! is one of my favorite to make. In addition to being fool proof, the pattern is called "Double Duty Bag".

Did any of you see the "Scrubs" where JD and Turk crack up every time someone says "duty" because it sounds like "doody"? We did. As a result, we all crack up too. Especially Ben and me. And Sari. Daniel too. I am sure that the ward chorister was NOT impressed with the Sant Family the last time we sang, "Put Your Shoulder To The Wheel".

It is EXTRA funny to us because Joseph sings while he is using the bathroom so "do your duty with a heart full of song" makes us all about fall on the floor laughing.

So mature, I know.

I SEWED A NEW PURSE YESTERDAY

I used SewLiberated's gnome messenger bag pattern. But you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at it. Haha! I love the front two pockets. They are deep enough to hold my not-tiny cell phone without losing it (something my current purse cannot boast).

I am so EXCITED about this! I learned how to put in a ZIPPERED POCKET! That's right, folks! A ZIPPERED POCKET! It was so much easier than I thought it would be.

Except I put it on the wrong side so the messenger bag became a large purse. Oops.

Here's the back - has a large pocket. Perfect for a book. Which I must always carry with me. Never know when the car will die and I will have a nice, long time, waiting for the tow, to catch up.