Saturdays are for sewing

I've noticed a definite trend on the weekends since December's mitten madness, in which I open up the sewing machine Friday night and sew for much of the weekend while watching old movies. The movies make the sewing go a lot slower, but I like them, so too bad.

Slow was a problem for this weekend's project though, which occurred to me as I woke up on Saturday just in time for a birthday party that afternoon. The birthday girl was a young friend turning 5, and with Christmas in our immediate past I had a pretty good idea she would be all loaded up with toys. Not that the average 5 year old considers this a bad thing, but something different was indicated.

Something like art supplies, for which I went to a proper art supply shop. Nothing that would be nasty to clean off a wall or a best dress, but still, grown-up stuff, plus some chocolate to tape onto the wrapping.

Then, as I say, I woke up thinking

it's not enough...
it needs something...
it needs...

an art bag.


So I measured and thought and cut out pieces before my 9am appointment, then dashed home to press them and do some initial sewing before the 45-minute drive for lunch with my mum, and dashed home again for the finishing touches before the actual party at, ahem, 2:30.

Since I finished the last seam at 2:16 there wasn't time for many photographs, and it would have been difficult anyway to show the clever inside pocket I fashioned and stitched into the casing at the top of the bag. But it's there, and it's where I put the chocolate. For inspiration.

The casing caused a bit of a panic, being huge. There wasn't going to be any way to keep the ribbony drawstring from slipping right out of it, so I sewed it together like a little pull tag at the end.


Everything you need for a drawing excursion fits neatly inside with space for more tools or treats as needed over time. And it looks quite pretty when you close it up, don't you think?