Manly

I'm hoping this bag is manly..

It's for some lovely gentlemen who are Meals on Wheels volunteers.  They're currently using a womens handbag as that's all they had.

It was so hard to resist adding any colour (hence the red strap and red topstitching), but I think I exercised restraint.

I made a really long adjustable strap so that it will suit all different sizes, and added a zip closure to the top, and a zip pocket to the front so that nothing falls out.

It's large enough to fit an A4 sized book, so there should be plenty of room for everything that the volunteers need while they're out delivering meals.

My sister is surprising them with it today so I hope they like it!

Sunshine and Manbags

It's such a beautiful morning, and I'm feeling all inspired. Let's hope it lasts!

I suddenly realised yesterday afternoon that it's my second eldest nephews birthday tomorrow, and I hadn't made him a pressie. We're having cake at lunchtime today, so there was a bit of a mad panic rush lastnight to whip something up.

Manbag to the rescue....

Here's one I made earlier

One of the most depressing things that happened last week, was the fact that I missed the twins 2nd birthday. They did come in for a brief visit with me on their actual birthday, but they were more interested in running around the hospital cafeteria while trying to pinch the chupa chups that were set up at toddler height!

Thank goodness I was pre-organised this year, and already had their presents ready. We're going to have a little mini belated birthday cake session on Thursday to make up for it.

There's been many kerfuffles going on over at their house, about who gets to wear Moo Moo's Manbag, so I whipped up one for each of the twins, using some very groovy fabric that I bought from the Fat Quarter Shop before the dollar dropped.

I also found a good use for when there's one ball of yarn leftover from other projects....

I knitted up these little mini scarflettes, and added a vintage button from the stash. By the way, I have no idea how to do proper buttonholes - in this case, the button just pushes through the knitting.

Lets see how long these last around their necks before they end up on the floor!

The planned robot tees have been slightly delayed - not only is the scanner completely kaput, but now my PC is dead too....

Stocking up

I have a couple of markets coming up, so I'm trying to use any spare time whipping up goodies for my stall.

My nephews love their manbag satchels, so I've made some similar small kiddie satchels. I'm going to call them my MiniMan and MiniMiss Satchels.

They all have fully adjustable straps, so that they can grow with the kiddies, and a simple magnetic snap closure.

I just need to whip up a few more in some brighter colours.

Mr X and the Manbag

Mr X (my 10 year old nephew) has been staying with me this week while my sister and brother-in-law move house.

After dinner last night, he was bored, so I suggested that we make something. My intention was to keep it simple.... maybe some pencils, texta, and paper.

He kindly reminded me that I'd promised to make him a manbag just like Moo Moo's, so we decided to make it together (very quickly so we could finish it before his bedtime). I sent him out to the laundry to choose two fabrics from the stash, and he returned with skull and crossbones for the outer, and a camo print for the inner bag.

I let him use the rotary cutter (under very close supervision) to cut out all of the pieces that we needed. One piece went in the bin as it was just a bit too wonky to actually use, but the rest were absolutely fine.

Even though my machine is in for service, I still have my little sisters machine on hand, so we used that for this project.

We used clips instead of pins, and I marked the sewing lines with a fabric marker. Mr X then just had to follow the lines. He got the knack of it really quickly, and learned how to stop at the corner, put the needle down in the fabric, lift the foot, turn the fabric, put the foot down, and keep sewing.
It was a great combined effort and he's very happy with his new Manbag!

Moo Moo and the Manbag

Little Moo Moo has a bit of a fascination with handbags at the moment.

He keeps pinching his mummies handbag, putting it in his Big Red Car and driving (like Fred Flinstone) away with it.

So it was about time that I made him his very own Manbag.

As you can see, I just winged it, so the satchel flap is a bit too big but I'm sure a two year old won't notice. I used a piece of the lovely cowboy fabric that Stacey sent me to make the flap, and I added a magnetic snap to close it.

It even has an adjustable strap for when he grows a bit bigger...

I think he likes it!