Alexis’ Tote Bag – Plodding Along

Mom very nicely took Harry this morning – I don’t know, maybe I am getting old or maybe it’s just that I never dealt with a 2 year old boy before, but he was making me crazy this morning.  He took a half full bottle of drinking water and poured it over his head and down the side of Layla’s bed today.  Everything was wet.  You really can’t just explain to a 2 year old why that is wrong, can you?  As I sit here and write, I can hear both Mom and Casey saying, “No, Harry, no” like they are talking to a puppy.  They are both fairly calm, but I’m sure they will be happy when it is nap time.

I attempted to make Alexis’ original tote bag stand up straight so I could compare it to what I have done so far.  I measured up 10” from each corner of my version and folded it over to see how it was going-

Not looking too bad so far – may have to fold it down just a teeny bit more, but not too much.  I will add the straps and magnetic snap closure after I get the lining all figured out, and before it is sewn in.

For the lining, I decided I don’t need to make that mock seam at the front and back bottoms, so I cut one piece, 11” wide by 27” long.  The purple will overlap into the inside, so that will give me plenty to work with to make an inside zippered pocket.

I got out the pattern I had used to make the Rooster Bag so I could refresh my memory on making that inside pocket.  Looking at the directions, I remembered it was really pretty easy.  You can see how it was done here.

As I was measuring out the pocket, I thought, oh, I should check the giant zipper bag and find a zipper.  Can you believe out of 100 zippers I had nothing remotely close to the color I needed?  I put everything aside as I needed to go pick Layla and her friend up from school anyway.  I was very glad that the friend lives where she does, because there is a Hancock’s within about 2 miles of her house.

Layla and I went into Hancock’s and searched for a green zipper to match the lining material.  There were 7” and 22”.  I wanted a 9”.  I had to buy the 22” and cut it down.  When I finally got to sewing, I was sad that I didn’t have any of that cool thread I talked about yesterday in the right color- had to find some junk thread that was the closest match.

Here is the zipper inserted – I got it a bit crooked and a little pucker on one side, but I’m moving forward with it.

I told Alexis she would only be able to flash the lining to show the color to anyone and not let them really examine the inside!

And that was as far as I got today.  I had to go help a friend with her computer and I got home late.  I’m really beat and hope to get more done tomorrow.

Still only one entry for the giveaway – looks like Chrystal may win it.  Cut off is tomorrow – Wednesday Feb 27 – at noon.