Archive for the ‘sew it’ Category

My kids started school yesterday.  I watched them climb the steps of the school bus with a great twist of my heart.  I am not ready for them to go.  They are growing way too fast.

But like it or not our summer is over and my kiddos are another grade older.

Since my girl’s school bags that I made last year are still in great condition, I decided to try my hand at making lunch bags.

I was inspired by the cute and easy oilcloth lunch sack tutorial on Martha Stewart.  But after looking more closely at the sack, I thought the clothes pin closure wasn’t ideal for kids.  I also decided we needed lunch bags with insulation to keep things like cheese sticks and yogurt cool.

I found a free simple bag pattern on the Long Thread that fit the bill perfectly.

I made a few small changes to the bag.  Instead of using canvas on the outside, I picked a cheery aqua cherry oilcloth fabric and a red check oilcloth for the sides and inside.

I did do a little reading about oil cloth for lunch sacks.  It isn’t recommended for children under 12, but I decided to take my chances.  Oilcloth is made from linseed oil and the real danger would come from your child sucking on the fabric.  I’m pretty sure we are safe in that department.  Plus all my girl’s food is in containers.

I also used an insulated batting, which has a Mylar in the center.  It’s the perfect batting for keeping a lunch cool.  I also changed the pattern by adding batting to the sides of the bag, in addition to the center.

I debated whether to add a flap, but decided the magnet closure called for in the pattern would be enough.

The girls and I love how their bags turned out.  They aren’t perfect, the bags are slightly bigger than I thought they would be, which is good and bad.  One other change I’d make is, in retrospect, I would have used canvas for the outside like the pattern calls for.  The oilcloth was a challenge to work with.  It’s so stiff and inflexible.  It almost led to swearing when I had to turn the bags right side out. I also think the canvas would dry out easier if there was ever a spill that made into the batting.

One other quick, fun thing to share is the great reusable Lunch Containers we found.  They open up to hold a sandwich and two other items all separated.  The containers are BPA free and seem to be well made.  My kids love that they are easy to open.  We bought a few other smaller containers from the same company.  I’m still on the lookout for a small, leak-proof container to hold their dips and dressings.  I thought about baby food containers, but I’m pretty sure sending a glass jar to school is not the smartest idea.  If you have any ideas, I’d love to hear.

Our summer has almost come to an end.  My kids start school in one week.  After a few weeks of us all staying up WAY too late to watch the Olympics, it’s time to get back a semblance of order.  Even if I do have some withdrawal from watching Rhythmic Gymnastics (have you ever seen anything quite so amazing!), I am really happy to get some routine and more sleep.

My girls are trying hard to finish their 1930’s “Ruthie and Kit” quilts before summer is out.  Emma has never basted a quilt before, so she was really worried that her rows weren’t straight.  No worries, I told her, do your best, but these stitches are just temporary.  We will rip them out later.

Speaking of quilting, Emma is trying to decide whether to quilt on the machine or by hand.  It’s such a hard decision for her.  “If I do it by hand, it will look nicer…. but it will take me FOREVER.  The sewing machine will be so fast.  I don’t know what to do.”  We’ve talked about how sometimes when something is hard, you appreciate it more when it is done.  It’s more special.”  But in the end, it’s her quilt and her decision.

We’ve talked about labeling their quilts and how important it is, especially since this is their first quilt.  The labels will say something like this:

Made by Emma * age 10 *  For my doll Ruthie * August 2012

The quilts wouldn’t be complete without little pillows.  Emma stitched together some time tiny 1/2 hexagons into a flower for a decorative pillow for the bed.  You can see how much smaller the tiny hexagons are than the larger 1 inch hexies Lily is sewing together for her quilt.

Lily’s quilt is really coming along too.  She was worried that Emma is much farther along than her, until she realized that her entire quilt is hand pieced, Emma was able to machine piece her Dresden and then she appliqued it to her background fabric by hand.

Lily just needs to assemble her rows and add her borders so it won’t take her much longer either.

With a little luck, we should have bindings on their quilts before school starts, even if the girls decide to hand quilt, they can just work on them little by little.  They will be making pillow cases and finishing the decorative pillows too.

I’m not sure who is more proud of their good work, them or me.