Day thirty nine: one hundred definitions

It's amazing how the simplest thing in a shop window or a random combination of colours can make us think of somebody. Sometimes it takes no longer than a second to rush through the whole string of associations in our head that induce this sudden sense of familiarity. There must be at least a hundred of things that somehow define each of us in the eyes of other people, and not necessary all of them are true. Or even close. I'm sure all of you have heard something like "Oh, I saw this gorgeous/weird/sweet thing in the shop/magazine/bus and it made me think of you!" And how often have you raised an eyebrow in perplexity and/or horror when you see the thing? :) It's just dazzling! But it doesn't really matter, does it? For me the most important part of the sentence has always been the 'think-of-you' bit. Besides, sometimes these associations are so spot on that I cannot help but feel blessed and wonder at what point did our definitions overlap so perfectly :) I guess this is just how friendships work...

Day eighteen: oldtimers' parade

I really like this fabric, so I made another tote. This one isn't supposed to be reversible though, because I added an inside pocket with a zipper. Took me a while to figure out the most logical way to insert it, but I managed somehow (and will manage even better next time). 

Day fourteen: chasing rainbows

Feeling a bit grey(-ish)? I might have just created a cure for that. I am deeply disappointed every year when I see shops introducing yet another grey-black-dark-boring-and-depressive autumn collection. Instead of following this disturbing trend, I got busy and created a small (35x40 cm) fabric tote bursting with joy. My rabbit friend Rūdis was kind enough to take part in a quick photo shoot to capture all the colours of my home-made rainbow :)

Day thirteen: floral blues

Apparently, my love affair with different shades of blue is ongoing :) I'm still using Dana's pattern with minor adjustments: this is a more compact version, just 35x40 cm. Today I felt a bit cheeky because of my recent success with previous bags and decided to make it a liiiittle bit more complicated and to add a pocket. Since the tote is reversible, the pocket can be either a functional bit (when inside) or a decorative element (when outside). Looks fab to me.

Day twelve: your friend giraffe

So I went hunting (like women do) and returned home with a pile of delicious fabrics and 100 ideas for new projects. The safari-themed fabrics had 30% discount and I just couldn't resist the giraffes - such adorable creatures. I decided to dedicate my next reversible tote to them :)

Day eleven: a horse with no tail

This is a story about amazing women and somewhat unconventional animals.

Soon after becoming a proud owner of a sewing machine I came across this website: it was the first page I bookmarked in my "Sewing" folder and I keep revisiting it. The amazing lady behind this site is Dana from Austin, Texas and I truly admire her energy and way of doing things with such ease and creativity. Her tutorials are splendid as well, so I decided to make this reversible tote. It sure needs more fabric than a cosmetics bag, so I looked critically at my thinning stash of sewing materials and chose two animal-patterned pieces of fabric. This is where I must mention another wonderful woman: my friend Irina who has been an amazing help and inspiration to me since the very day I decided to buy the sewing machine. She is Mrs Crafting in our circle of friends, so she gave me a very good advice about the machine itself and provided a pile of fabrics from her collection for me to start with. Thanks a million, dear!

I specifically remembered having a piece of linen with horses which would be just perfect for my fist tote. And it was only after I had already cut it when I suddenly realized: wait a minute, those are no horses... where are the tails!? And then I leered at the other part of the bag featuring blue and orange deers and decided to go for the psychedelic zoo theme :) The result is goooood and reversible.