Uncategorized | Sewn in Vermont

I am going wild with bag-making right now. Check out this trio, below (it was a quartet, but one made it out the door before I snapped a pic of it). Organic cotton canvas, and that ladybug fabric is a handprinted bit of luxury that I found at Nido in Burlington, Vermont. Her shop is a little slice of fabric heaven, full of bolts and cuts of beautiful fabric, and plenty of space to step back and admire her artful displays. She puts together fun packets of trimmings, and I nearly always pick one (or two!) up when I stop in.

I decided to quickly sew up these little drawstring bags when I heard some mama friends lamenting the lack of a perfect bag for a few crayons or toys to keep kids entertained in the car, or waiting at the doctor's office, or the like. Our preschool just finished, and I got these done in time to share around as little thank you presents for moms and children.

I tried a couple of different (free) tutorials from the Sew Mama Sew website. It's always fun to see how different people approach the same project. I had never made French seams before, and one of the tutorials featured them. Probably not needed on a drawstring bag, but a nice technique to get comfortable with in a no-pressure sewing situation.

Some of the drawstring bags and two of the totes are available for sale. Send me a message if you're interested in buying one, or if you want a custom bag, doll, or pillow made up. Happy summer!

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One of my original dolls came for a visit yesterday. Sharon (for that is what they call her, how sweet is that?) is so well-loved that the back of her head wore through. Seams still good (thank you, triple stitch), but the felt on the back of her head actually wore through. She had been patched by a loving grandma, but the felt around the patch wore out. Time for something different.

She came to me looking like this:

That is wool stuffing coming out of the back of her little, well-loved head.

She is now resting comfortably, looking like this:

Instead of trying another patch, I decided to make her a new head. This time, I put a double layer of wool felt at the back of her head, since we know this little girl likes to hold and cuddle her dolly there.

Sharon (dolly Sharon, that is) is now resting comfortably, waiting for her ride. Matty was quite taken when he found her on the porch this morning! He sang a little song while he rocked her. Let’s hope this dolly’s mama is impressed, too!