here are the bags i've been working on, initially for teacher gifts, but the project evolved. last week my folks and i went to grandaddy's antiques mall which houses uncles billy's (i think) fabric depot in burlington. this place is the size of a large walmart, stuffed back to front, floor to ceiling and side to side with antiques and bolts of upholstery fabric on rolls.
the sheer quantity of textiles made my head spin at first, and i thought that no way in a million years would i be able to accomplish the handmade bags task for teacher gifts. that is, until i ran across the remnants section. here is where they take the bolt ends and clearance all of them out for $3 a yard. i happily mixed, matched and sorted, then marched out of there with more fabric than i could ever use for $130.
through my invalidism (is that a word?) i cut through almost all the fabric... making it into a standard bag pattern. they are roughly 9" wide X12" tall X 3" deep. just the other day i started mixing up the colors and sewing entire bags. since i did all the prep work first, the assembly went rather quickly... maybe 45 minutes.
as you can see, i've finished 4, and have 3 ready for assembly. and enough cut fabric to make maybe 40 total bags! they are all fully reversible to another matching pattern on the other side. hopefully the teachers and a zillion other people will be happy to get one of these puppies. i feel like a factory!
10 comments:
Wow...those are some beautiful bags you're making there! You obviously love to sew. :)
well, j, i don't know about LOVING to sew... but i CAN sew, and these bags are only costing me (in raw materials) about $3 each! let's face it, i'm just cheap :)!
Those are some really nice bags! It's a good thing that the raw materials are cheap. I think you should start selling them and jack the price way up! Profit baby, profit!
wow melissa those bags are great! how'd you get started on this? I really like the green and yellow one on the bottom right of the last picture:)
Another Melissa talent! The bags are beautiful and I bet you're the only parent giving teachers real home-made gifts.
As a teacher myself, I can tell you the teachers on your gift list are going to love those beautiful bags. And reversible, too. WOW! Way to go.
looooooooove them! ahhhh they look awesome... i miss trash tv with you!
love,
c
Woooooooow, Melissa, you're one talented lady, I LOVE those bags, they are gorgeous, truly they are. Lucky,lucky teachers!
btw, I have 10 more pages left to go on my Kiran Desai novel! ;)
thanks for the comments, guys! maybe i'll have a bag contest.
beenzzz: if i knew where to sell them, that might be an idea...hmmmm...
sruthi: i guess i got the idea from a fabric bag that t bought me, and i thought, heck! i can do that! and i guess the end product came from that motivator.
susan: i'm not sure i'd call it talent, maybe skill?
booklogged: good to hear from a teacher... i never know what to get!! you should post a list of things teachers LOOOVVVE to get.
lotus: i'm just getting started on it! i hope we can still get a good discussion going when i'm through.
I love, love, love those bag! I have been looking for a teacher's bag. I wish I lived close to you. I would buy the blue one and the yellow one. Fantastic!
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