Licensed to Carry (Your Junk)

Here we are after the Mother's Heart quilt and Regarding Dutch.  It's a hard reality of life that a well thought-out and technically precise quilt posted along with a warm introduction to a wonderful mother gets less than half the views of a few cute puppy photos.  I reckon that's why people post so many YouTube videos of kittens and puppies.  That's where the money is.

For the more hardy amongst you, I hope you enjoyed meeting my mom.  She's worth the effort.

Based on past performance, today's post might not get the views that puppy pics might, but I have to press on.

In spite of all that, perhaps a short video of Dutch the Wonder Dog might be entertaining as a prelude to this post:

Everyone loves a puppy, right?

Not long after I began sewing, I had the idea that I would like to make bags.  All different types of bags: briefcases, small to medium sized utility bags, Gym bags, etc.

I made a few bags early on and had fun designing them.  I used that interest to learn about zippers and 3-D shapes and lots of other things.




Some of the early bags that I made were simple bags like the one I made for Kayla (my daughter-in-law).  These were well received by those who got them.

Kayla and John (My Son)
(He Married Up)

Then I saw the same type of bag with a flap to hold brushes and I thought that that was a good idea, so I made some like that.

I made a few improvements and I developed my own pattern for the bag.  Now I can make them pretty quickly.

The bag shown below has become most popular with my family and friends (it's shown completely open at top of page).  My Aunt Libby (Libby's Leaves) uses hers as an art supply bag.  She likes to draw and paint.  I'm jealous because I can barely draw a stick man.

My Fiance's Bag

My gal uses hers all the time.  It's always cool to make something that someone actually uses.  I hate making things that aren't useful because when you give them, the recipient feels like they have to be nice about it, but they know that they'll never use such a goofy thing.  Bad feeling, no?

She says that she uses hardly any make-up.  I guess she needs a lot of brushes to put on that little bit!  And the bag itself is chock-full of all kinds of cases and boxes and such.

Being a girl must be a pain in the ass.

Kayla's Bib

I put a lot of thought into this bag as I was considering style, shape, materials, etc.  The inside of the main bag and the inner surface of the flap is made of PUL.  I had never heard of this stuff until I began sewing.  It's pretty cool.  I use it as a back for most of my bibs (See: Confessions of a Pig) and for the linings of many of my bags. 

It's nice because PUL has one side made of a waterproof, rubber-like material and the other is a soft fabric of some sort.  It's a bit of a pain to work with because the rubbery side doesn't slide very well under the sewing foot.  There are ways around that, though.

Kayla uses her bag along with her bib to put her makeup on while she's driving.  I made her bib of the same hot pink denim that I used in her bag.

A few months before I made her bag and bib, I was in Goodwill and saw a pair of hot pink jeans and immediately thought of Kayla.  I knew that, someday, I'd find something to make for her with this god-awful color.

But, she likes hot pink; what can I say?  I hope that it comes as no surprise that hot pink isn't my favorite color, but sometimes you just have to play to the client, right?  At any rate, she likes it.

John and Kayla

I have given some thought to making the pattern and the instructions available, but, so far, I've been too lazy to do the work.  If there is an interest, I'll surely consider it.

Hint: this is your cue to say something if you're interested.


TheCurmudgeon

John and Kayla

p.s. Do yourself a favor and enter your e-mail address at the top or bottom of the page.  That way you'll receive notices when I make a new post.  Don't worry, I don't see the addresses.  You can still surf your quilt porn in anonymity.