Well, it looks funny on him

But really it's sooooo cute! All it needs is a fit model so that I can determine where the buttons go.

Is it unseasonably warm in here?

Or is our house just warmer? Well, maybe both. It used to be that I could tell how cold it was outside by how cold it is inside, but no more. On the other hand, it has been kind of warm the past couple days.

Not much to report here. As some of you might know, I had an end of October deadline for finishing the data for my paper. Well, we missed that, but I'm pretty close. I've been doing mostly boring data analysis at work. I've made a few bags and a quilt, but I don't have any pictures due to the fact that I've assigned photography to Brian. In the meantime, here is a picture of the view out our back door and another one of my sewing machine.

A new bag (I love it!)

This one is actually going to go to be shipped off to florida. Brian is making fun of me for making lots of bags and deciding that they aren't good enough. He says we are accumulating a stash of less than perfect bags. No more, they are flying out the door now.

A wallet for Margot and THE FRANKENBAG

Do not mock the frankenbag. He will fight back. I know, I have felt his wrath. In future, I will know, WORK FROM A PATTERN, DUMBASS. Or at least a design. You see, I did not work from either on this bag and it drove me bonkers. I had an idea. That idea was kind of blown when I cut the fabric wrong. Oops. No worries, there is always another idea. I'll make a reversible bag. Then Brian pointed out that HE'D like it better if the strips were vertically symmetric rather than radial. That would have been fine if I'd just been able to overrule him, but he was right. I considered tearing out the seam and doing it over but the seam, she is strong and I am not that patient. So I shall make a pocket to break up the aberrant symmetry. Wait the pocket is on the inside, no the outside, no the inside. Never mind the pocket, the bag isn't deep enough. Here, I'll put a strip of coordinating fabric on top. Now it needs some trim, now my sewing is all messed up so I have to...how do I attach a strap! Umph, argh, ouch, pins! So in future, a sketch at least please.

As for the wallet, actually a pattern was followed for that one, but I now think that I could make a better pattern. Also, it is lopsided. However, I think that Margot will like the corduroy and Velcro. As Brian said, "she's just going to go shwoop, schwoop, schwoop with it." By the time she is old enough to have real money in there, I will have figured out how to make a better one.

My first bag

It started out to be a simple grocery bag, but then I decided to experiment with stabilizer/interfacing. The inside is from the legs of an old pair of jeans, the outside is just cute. I'm very proud. There are some messy seams and such, as can be expected from a first attempt (seriously, I don't even really sew), but I love it. It may make a better bookbag than grocery bag, since the bottom is not too wide.

I think I learned a lot. Like next time I'm not going to sew the handles on until the end (it kind of grew as a project as I made it, so that was a mistake). Also, there is an optimal assembly order and the pattern piece I made for the bottom was a wee bit too long. I also discovered this awesome bag making blog.