Let’s Play Ball!

Ok ok ok ok ok……you guys, I’m shouting AGAIN lol!!!! If you’re confused it’s probably because you didn’t read my last Blog, which I won’t hold against you, but it was a good one so I highly recommend you do lol! I started it off saying I was so excited to share that project with you and I was yelling about it from the rooftops….so I’m back on that rooftop because I’m just as excited, no, actually more!!

Ok so you all remember that I said I had another London Majors shirt right? Wellllll I made another bag and I’m so impressed with it, and I guess with me too lol! So to quickly catch you up, here’s the first bag I made with the blue shirt……

It’s so cute, and even though I was worried that it wasn’t very big, it was perfect for a sweater, bug spray and sunscreen, and all my little things fit perfectly in the front pockets! And I just so happened to go to a Toronto Blue Jays game last weekend and after checking the bag size allowances for Rogers Centre, I realized this bag would work for that too sooooooo……..

This is me and my best friend’s hubby, Geoff (there’s a lot of Jeff’s and Geoff’s in my life lol)! We got our picture taken together to show off our matching hats that I made for him and I, which you probably recognize from a previous Blog post!

Stay on track Shawna lol! Ok so back to the topic at hand, where was I?!? Oh right, I had a 2nd shirt, this time a grey one to reimagine into another bag! So this time I knew I wanted a big tote bag, big enough to carry lots of stuff that I could possibly need for ballgames, and my plan is to keep everything in there so all I need to do is grab the bag when we’re heading out the door! I’ve made plenty of tote bags and I was just going to use a pattern I’ve used several times in the past and then as if the sewing Gods heard my thoughts, they dropped another new pattern in my lap! Isn’t it funny how that happens, ok so the pattern didn’t technically appear out of thin air, instead I’m scrolling IG and I see that a bag designer that I follow, Sotak Handmade, is having a 30% off sale…..you tell me how I was supposed to pass that up, or don’t bother because I didn’t pass it up lol! I had been eyeing one of her patterns for awhile, the Devon Zipper Pouch because it’s such a versatile little pouch! I’ve seen it made many different ways by several makers and I love it every time, and yet it is “just” a pouch so it’ll be quick and fun! So while I was buying that one, I thought I should at least look at everything else and I spied this tote that I instantly loved, the Kaland Weekender Tote! It looked big enough for what I wanted and had lots of pockets, also always a bonus in my books so I went for it and scooped it up too…..30% off is almost giving them away after all lol! Alright I can’t wait any longer, I have to show you!!!!

Is it the greatest picture? No, but that’s ok cause when the subject of the picture is this awesome, it almost doesn’t matter what the background is! I did take some better pictures in my backyard so I’ll share those too!

Norman decided he needed to be in the picture too apparently lol! Whenever I get my camera out, he will sometimes just strike a pose, like he knows what he’s doing lol!

Ok so back to the bag…..the grey parts are all t-shirt that I cut up and while this bag is huge (16″ wide x 14″ tall x 6″ deep), I still needed to increase that front panel by 1.5″ to accommodate the logo! To make it as simple as possible, I just increased the whole thing by that much so mine ended up being 16.5″ tall!! It’s such a great pattern, very well written and easy to follow. I love that it has a recessed zipper for the top closure, it’s a bag feature I’m always drawn to! As I said, it has lots of pockets too, there’s the one on the front exterior, which you could absolutely do one on both sides of the exterior if you wanted to! There’s an interior lining pocket and also an elasticized slip pocket but I decided not to include that as I knew I’d be shoving lots of things in there, including big seat cushions and I didn’t want them to get stuck on that elastic pocket!

I’m sure you’re wondering where I got that amazing baseball stitch fabric, which really is perfect for this bag and the answer is not FMF lol! I was at Lens Mills in London looking for hardware for a different project and since I was already there, I kinda had to check out the fabric section lol! I had gotten a baseball print there years and years ago and I thought something similar would be cute for the interior but when I saw those stitches, I was smitten lol! The vinyl on the bottom is another one I’ve had hanging around for ages and had literally never even cut into! I wanted something sturdy and that would stand up to getting dirty cause I’ll definitely be putting this big ol’ bag on the ground, also by using a vinyl, it’ll wipe clean and if it doesn’t, that’s ok too! I used our 1″ Navy Webbing for the handles and I used the beautiful Cardinal Glide thread, which looked stunning on that blue vinyl!

Well I guess that’s it for now! It’s the long weekend and my plans for tons of sewing hasn’t happened yet lol! Instead it’s been lots of deep cleaning and then plant and grocery shopping! Oh well, the weekend’s not over yet so there’s still time to squeeze some in, like right now so bye for now friends! Cheers!

Shawna