Brrrrrr

This arctic front that’s dumping all this unseasonably frigid air on us may give our gardening event tomorrow a boost, but worrying about all of the little critters who have to deal with these freezing temperatures is almost giving me ulcers. I wish they all had warm loving homes.

All of my sewing for the past two weeks has been to make some door prizes for tomorrow’s “Seedy Saturday”. It’s good to be able to think of gardening and Spring in the midst of this wintery blast. I made two of these holders for my note cards. I add a little each time I make them. This time it was the ribbons to hold them closed.

I also wanted to make a market tote. These cute little Japanese bags caught my attention and, according to several tutorials I came across on the internet, they were simple to make. It took me a couple of days and several mistakes to finally figure out just how “simple” they were. It’s like that “You can’t miss it” statement that people make when giving directions – easy to find (or make) when you’ve been there before!

So, I finally made one and it turned out like the picture. Good job. But I wanted to make a lining for it and I couldn’t remember how big I’d made the first one. I finally found my notes and made the lining accordingly, but somehow it turned out three times the size. I could have made it into a baby quilt. Well, I cut it back by a third and sewed it into a bag, but the shape was all wrong and it didn’t line up with the first one. I cut the lining apart – I reinforced the seams real good and there was no unstitching this girl! – and sewed two of the three pieces into another bag, with a lining. They just kept looking worse, so I went looking for another bag.

The one I finally made was a free pattern off the internet but there’s little point in posting a link to it because after I cut the fabric I stopped following the pattern . It’s a simple enough one but II made one dumb mistake after another on… I guess the more mistakes you make, the more you learn. Anyway, it’s not very complicated – pockets on the outside, but none inside. Just nice for carrying a few things in – maybe some vegetables or lunch. I think I’ll make a few more without mistakes to sell at our Farmers Market this Spring. Ginger is looking very put out. I guess I woke her up taking this picture.

Time to go to bed, myself. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s Seedy Saturday and talking to all of the local gardeners who show up. I have to keep telling myself that it’s too soon to plant anything. Another month to go. I am sooooo ready for it to be Spring now.

Until next time,