Watermelon Smuggler

late afternoon sunshine

After working hard all week, I was all thumbs on Friday. All thumbs in pain because I am old and busted so I decided to take the day off and sew instead.

First I hauled out the ladder and washed Charlie's car. It is a true sign of manliness when your car is so big your wife has to Scale A Ladder to wash the roof. All shiny and lovely now! Thumbs continued to hurt, so I stopped postponing my day off.

Last week I came across an Amy Butler pattern for a satchel-style bag that I quite liked. I've dabbled a bit in making tiny bags, but until now have not ever made a Proper Bag. I already had the fabric I wanted to use and decided to treat the pattern like a first time recipe and follow the directions for the first making. So off I headed to the fabric store and bought woven interfacing. Until now I had no idea this stuff existed. I usually buy the cheapo medium strength or gossamer weight generic stuff and use them as all purpose. Why is woven interfacting $4 a yard instead of the $1.50 of my usual? Because it is AWESOME. It is definitely firm support but is, well, woven instead of a stiff sheet. Malleable. Supple. Pellon 101 fusible, I heart you.

inner sanctum

The bag directions were simple and I only added two things. Only a teeny diversion from following the directions. I adjusted the sewing on the small pocket so that it had a little sub-pocked exactly the size to fit my phone. And I added a d-ring to the inner seam because I like to clip my keys and not lose them. What I didn't count on was the size of the finished product.

next to palm tree for scale

Every woman has criteria for a bag, and how much it needs to be able to hold. For me, a bag must be able to contain: my keys, wallet, 2 rolled up shopping bags, phone, and a book. My criteria used to include being able to carry a graphic novel, but I've let that one slide over time and just carry that in my hand if I have one with me. I am not a jumble-shop carrier. I don't wear makeup or contacts or need to have a change of clothes with me at all times. And this new bag is BIG. But it is so lovely! Charlie recommended it as a knitting bag, but I actually already have one that I love (my monogrammed Land's End bag, thanks to Charlie's parents!) that has the added bonus of being rugged enough to stay open upright on the floor for easy yarn access. I think I may use the bird purse when I am going on an airplane because it's much nicer than my ancient backpack.

But if you are going shopping and need to buy a watermelon, call me and I'll help you. I think it would fit in there perfectly next to my keys.

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outside view of the coop, with bonus crazy tilted camera framing. It is level, I promise. And yes, the rafters are the same blue as the house trim. I am That Good.