Always a long silence....

...followed by a blast of info....or that's what I seem to have been doing lately!

The problem is, that while I'm 'cutting my teeth' on the various bag creation steps, I'm creating each one for a friend or family member. You lucky ladies!

This is, obviously, a lovely and generous gesture on my part, but not so fab for having things to blog about - as most of you/them read the blog and I don't want to spoil the surprise...!

Anyway, the latest creations are now at their proper destinations - my Mum, and Dan's Mum. So, now I can blog away and show you the pics!

So, I wanted to create a big tote bag which would stand up on its own, and that Dan's mum could put her knitting in, and that my mum could use as a beach bag for going on holidays with.

First things first, I made a pattern...(took me back to my school days with the lined graph paper. Lovely!)

Then I started cutting....(using my new rolly cutter and mat, how cool!) Many random pieces everywhere.

It took one day to complete the 1st bag - Michelle's - which is in a rather fetching cream with birds and trees on, and has as its lining, the lime green (you can't see but there are yellow birds on it).

I am not so good at the arty farty side of choosing the fabrics which go together, so I rely on the experts and tend to choose fabrics which they have put together in a pack. Pretty aren't they?

What you can't see too clearly from the above pic, is that there's a nice big internal pocket (well 3 actually) big enough for keeping patterns & pins and things in, in a lovely matching fabric. Let me see if this is a better angle...

 Buoyed by the success of the 1st one, I launched into then 2nd, and made my Mum her bag with a holiday theme...

Hers too has an inner pocket. The lining material is a wavy, sandy beach design and the pocket material is a fabulous underwater reflections fabric, (I was trying to go for the sea lapping up against the shore) all of these are from my fave fabric shop, TabbyCat Fabrics. Fab service, and, I think, I might be getting some of my recent creations featured on their customer gallery! More about that if/when it happens!!! Anyway sticking to the theory that the experts know best, I chose these materials from a collection called 'Seaside' which are by Makower and which I found on the TabbyCat website.

As I still had a few scraps of fabric left from each of the inner pocket fabrics, I decided to make a little drawstring pouch to go inside each one. I made a long thin one for Michelle, for her knitting needles to go in, and one lined with a bit of waterproof fabric, for mum, for wet swimming costumes or shampoo bottles and things to go in!

I'm really chuffed with them!!!!

(I think Mum and Michelle liked them too!)