Today was my friend’s baby shower, the event for which I’ve been frantically sewing for the last week and a half or so. I told her originally that I’d make a bag for her, then in discussion decided to make TWO — a large one for those big trips and all-day visits to Grandma’s and such, and a smaller one for quick trips around town and for when baby is older and doesn’t need as much stuff to haul around. She picked out the fabric, a cute alphabet print on dark red cotton for the lining, and black denim for the outer shell. We also picked up a cotton red-stars-on-cream print for pockets and contrast.

The “large” tote turned into a huge tote; I definitely over-achieved. You could fit a baby in there! The smaller bag is a messenger-style, with an adjustable strap. Both have bottle holders and numerous pockets. I embroidered a little firedog on the front of the large tote (daddy is a firefighter). I also made a changing pad using iron-on vinyl (first try using it — eeeee!) and a cute stuffed cube with satin ribbon loops all over it. Both bags were filled with bottles and teeny shoes (unworn) and baby clothes Asha’s outgrown and other odds and ends like that. (Lots more pictures on Flickr.)

I was pretty happy with the bags, especially the small one, but I got a bigger response out of the other ladies at the baby shower than I expected. I may have custom orders coming out of this! Now I need to figure out how much material I actually used so I can figure out what I should charge…

I have a ton of things to finish making before my friend’s baby shower on Sunday, so what am I doing? I am building and installing two new computers for my husband and myself. Seems the lure of the sewing machine and the lure of the new hardware are equally strong. So far the computer is winning, probably because I’m sitting closer to it than to the sewing machine…

I’m not typically very sentimental on Valentine’s Day, unless I’m out of chocolate (and then I expect to get some…) But my daughter Niki is all about sentiments such as love and happiness and joy, and so I couldn’t resist whipping this little felt pillow up last night.

I found this neat tip on how to make a
felt wall by Amy at angry chicken via Hillary at wee wonderfuls. (Does that sentence make sense?) It sounds like a great way to play around with fabric scraps when designing something. Now if only I had a spare piece of blank wall in my crafting area…