Christmas Totes

Mike's daughter Melissa asked for a sewing machine for Christmas (hooray for spreading the crazy!), and so his other daughter Michelle got one for her.  She's never sewn before and doesn't have any sewing supplies at all.  I got her a bunch of notions (thread, scissors, pins, measuring tape, etc.) but wanted to make her some sort of sewing caddy to put it all in.  I had something in mind, but hadn't really made anything quite that shape before.  I thought it would be wise to make a test bag, so I found this fun yellow gingham and blue plaid in my stash.  The blue plaid is leftover from a tablecloth I made a long time ago and don't use (the dogs run away with tablecloths), and I had about a billion yards of the yellow gingham.  I bought it once to make some curtains which was a stupid idea from the beginning since I love the yellow gingham but it's not really my style for home decor.  Anyway, I made up the bag and I think it turned out really cute, although I decided  the pockets on the outside were a little much for the style of his daughters- I wanted something a bit more sleek and modern.  I'll save this one for a giveaway sometime- it turned out surprisingly well for being a prototype!

The one I made for Melissa uses some of the leftover fabric from my Amy Butler bag as well as some fun lime green.  It doesn't have anything on the outside except a green patch pocket.  No pictures of that side, because the pocket is embarrassingly off center!

I went ahead and used up all the leftover fabric to make this heavy duty book tote for Michelle.  I'm happy to have these done, they were the last to-be-made Christmas presents.  Now I just have to deal with the 12th night costumes.