My daughters go to daycare and one of the teachers recently left. My youngest is probably her biggest fan so we were a little sad when we heard the news. So, I decided to make her a gift with a little help of my eldest.
The original plan was to make a simple tote bag with appliqued fabric scraps on both sides. My daughter was in charge of scrap selection and placement. My task was to sew everything in place according to her instructions.
I fear I may no longer be able to make “simple” tote bags. After completing the front and back panel I thought “hmm, you can of course see the zig zag stitching inside the bag, a lining to cover that up would be nice”. This was quickly followed by “if I’m making a lining I may as well make the bag even more useful by adding a patch pocket”, “a key chain so keys don’t get lost among all the other stuff would also be nice” and “an adjustable strap so she can choose whether to wear it as a shoulder bag or cross body would be great and I do still have webbing and sliders in my stash”.
After all that I was sort of able to stop myself from adding more features except that I really wanted to add a closure at the top of the bag. One of the quickest closures to install is a magnetic snap. Sadly I didn’t have any in my stash. There was, however, still time to order some so I did.
I am very pleased with how this bag turned out. There are some risks when you let a 3 year old select scraps but I really like what she picked and how they’re arranged. I didn’t have enough black webbing to make both sides of the strap so I let my daughter decide whether the teacher would prefer yellow or pink as an accent detail. No idea whether pink was really the correct answer to that question but I certainly like it!
Delightful! I also love the scraps your daughter chose and the way she arranged them. Teacher is going to cherish that bag. I know what you mean about making a project more complex as it progresses. 😉
Thank you! It was fun to see how she carefully placed them on the fabric so I could sew the next one in place.
Clearly your daughter is absorbing some design skills by simply being there while you work! I think my favourite bit is the pink accent webbing 🙂
Haha, you should see some of her other artistic explorations using scraps of paper, glue, stickers, adhesive tape, crayons and pencil! No restrain to be found there, everything just stacked on top of each other in several layers.
I really love the pink webbing too, I even considered using pink for the long part of the strap because that looked really good but for a non-pink person that may have been a bit too much.
Aaaaarg! I am so in love with this, looking at these photos is so uplifting!
I can’t do stuff like this anymore (crazy Multiple Sclerosis ) but I might just make up a digital folder of all your amazing accomplishments! Yes, It’ll be my craft delights folder, pictures to look through when I’m down. Like my Kittens folder 😉 Thank you for sharing
On Sat, 29 Aug 2020 at 9:07 PM, infectiousstitches wrote:
> > > > > > > Emmely posted: ” > > > > > My daughters go to daycare and one of the teachers recently left. My > youngest is probably her biggest fan so we were a little sad when we heard > the news. So, I decided to make her a gift with a little help of my eldest. > > > > > > > > The original plan was t” > > > >
Thank you! So sorry to hear that you can’t do crafty stuff like this anymore due to illness. Sewing makes up such an important part of my life right now and really keeps me sane that it is hard to imagine what I’d do without this outlet. Knowing that sharing what I do also helps other people makes it even better. Thank you!
Wonderful how much your daughter was involved! I find it funny how a simple idea grew so fast. I usually end up doing the same!
Thank you! Yes, it is so difficult to restrain myself because there are so many useful features you can add to projects, especially bags!
I am not sure which is more impressive — the outside of the bag or all those inside pockets! Your daughter has a very lucky teacher
Thank you!
What a sweet and thoughtful gift! I bet she will treasure it forever 🙂
(and I love how you let your 3 year participate in design!)
Thank you! She certainly enjoys rummaging through all my scraps, it’s a good way to do something we both enjoy. There will be more gifts to make when she turns 4 and has to say goodbye to the other teachers.