Sweet and Simple

Sometimes I just want to get my craft on but I only have the tiniest little window.  And sometimes I want to make something cute and sweet but I don't want it to drag on too long or I need it in a hurry. Because of all that, I came up with this very (I think!) cute little bag. I was at Kmart and found the cutest Martha Stewart kitchen towels (these are not them) and I thought they really deserved to be more than something I would wipe crusty mushy crap on all day.  So they were the second part of the inspiration.  The bag above was made from a kitchen towel I bought and a piece of ribbon from the stash. It took no time at all and if you skip the embroidery, it will take even less time. So here are the directions:

1. The embroidery. I found the center of the top of the kitchen towel (the ruffle was already on the towel) and used my disapearing ink pen to write the name and then quickly embroidered it.

2. Pin it. The next thing I did was to make two equally spaced pleats and pinned them. At this point you also want to pin your straps in place. Be careful when you sew it that you remember the straps and don't just sew over them all wonky and then have to rip out and do over.  I only did that once but it was annoying.

3. You guessed it- sew it across the top.

Then flip it and do the same to the other end being mindful to match up the strap lengths so that they are equal.

4. After sewing the second end, put right sides together and sew up the side seams. I did two rows of stitching all around because this is intended for a child so I wanted it to be a bit more durable.

5. Turn and thats it! The towels tend to be a bit stiffer so they have nice body.  I think this would be so cute to do in lieu of easter baskets. Or for goodie bags at a kid's party.  For little sewers its a good easy and quickly gratifying little project.

Comments

[Lynne]

Very cute, Mo! I love the colors and in fact, I like that background fabric in the Abby bag photo...I like it alot!

[Abby]

I think the bags are cute as well. Aren't kitchen towels the greatest. You can do so much with them. The ruffled edge was a nice touch.

[Trisha]

Well those names look very familiar.