come, sail away...

The State Street Tote by Bari J.

I finished this tote bag yesterday - I was inspired by this one over at Fashioned by Meg. She made it for her partner in the Urban Home Goods swap - so I stalked the pattern and all of the supplies. And then I finally used my coveted Heather Ross Far Far Away 2. The fabric is canvas-like, which seems perfect for a tote - but then two layers of fusible fleece, and 4 layers of fabric - my sewing machine was straining a little. I decided to trim away what I thought was extra fabric and after the fact, realized I cut a part that would show - so i had to get creative and the bag ended up a little bit smaller than it should have. I could have cried - but it has turned out okay in spite of my near epic disaster. I love the owl and the pussy cat sailing away...



My mom admired it last night, repeating several times "I really like that bag, I really like it". She is funny and kind of shameless that way. We'll see, mom - mother's day is around the corner. Meanwhile, my sewing machine probably needs some TLC.

Thank you for the kind words about my last post - and the stressors of being amidst a messy battle over union rights/ benefits in WI. The situation took a negative turn this week when the the bill got rammed through in a what appeared to be an illegal manner. The protesting continues - Susan Sarandon spoke at the Capital yesterday. Even if all of the protests don't make a difference in the end, it has been exciting and gratifying to know that people are willing to fight to be heard.