flower tote for Diwali

My friend and yoga teacher Dolly invited me to her annual Diwali party. I had a great time eating and dancing, and I was so grateful to another friend Candice for her help getting ready. Candice's inlaws are from India, so she was able to fill me in on what the party would be like and she generously loaned me this pretty outfit--with coordinating jewelry too, no less!

She also told me where in Artesia to go for the best Diwali sweets to bring along for the hosts.

To thank her I made up this flowered tote. I like the weight of the home dec fabrics for a bag, but they tend to pull and shift out of square while you are working with them. Arrgh!

Here's a peek inside. More lining fabric from my grandmother's stash. Thank you, Nana.

little zipper bags

I often want to put together an last-minute gift. (Sometimes because I want to surprise someone for an occasion I just found out about, sometimes because I have procrastinated so long that what should have been "planned" became "last-minute." Don't be like me.) My go-to project right now is a little zipper bag.

This first one I just made up. It was for a cheer friend of Frances's whose cheer uniform didn't arrive with all the others and I wanted to surprise her with something when everyone else had gotten their new uniforms.

I printed out letters and traced them onto the toile fabric and fused them with Steam a Seam. I added some random stitching as an accent. I kind of like how that turned out--I'll have to remember that for later.

This one was so last-minute that I didn't have time to get out the background and take a proper picture.

Then I decided to dive into the big pile of ideas I've saved from my favorite blogs--I got this pattern from Anna at Noodlehead. It was for my friend Leala for her birthday. She's Japanese American so I picked out my favorite Japanese Hawaiian scraps from my Postcards from Hawaii quilt.

I love the way this bag opens up all the way, and I love the little fabric tab at the end of the zipper.

This one was for another of Frances's friends for her birthday. It was a holder for a PacSun gift card.

Franny picked out the country-ish fabrics to suit her friend's personality. She is always so good at putting colors and patterns together. Luckily I have a little stash of zippers so I can whip up one of these bags without a trip to the fabric store. I think this zip came from a Laura Ashley maternity dress. The fabric went to make a little jumper for Frances when she was a toddler. I think I still have a handful of covered buttons--I wonder where they'll end up!