told you we made something

Here is the fruit of that best day ever a few weeks ago. Terry was sweet enough to send me pictures. (Thanks, Terry!)

I don't know which I like better, the bag itself or the fun we had making it.

It can't say exactly how long it took to make. Had we been in Home Ec class, we would've gotten kicked out for laughing, goofing around, having friends hang out and goof around with us, eating, playing with a baby cat, and making very off-color remarks about feminine products. We got the bag done in the course of the day, but you, my dear sewer, could likely get it done in a few hours.

Project Notes
Pattern: Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing, "Yoga Mat Tote." The unfavorable Amazon reviews of the book capture the problem with it perfectly, particularly one titled "Not for the spatially challenged," and another, which notes that the instructions are "a bit too BRIEF." The latter reviewer says she's been sewing for 30 years. So, with all our funnin', you can guess that Terry and I wanted good instructions. We didn't have time for independent thinking. In the end, though, that's what it came down to. I had to abandon Lotta's meager drawings and just do the damn thing. I now say beware any "beginning" sewing book that has hand-drawn instructions. (Bend-the-Rules Sewing not withstanding.) Photographs are subjective, no doubt, but drawings really force you inside someone else's head and limit you to trying to think the way he or she does.

Fabric: Terry searched (the contemptible) Jo-Ann's and found nothing; so she allowed me to pick the fabric at Michael Levine's right before our sewing session. It's corduroy with a bit of stretch. When I found it, Natalie said the swirls are yogic, and the colors send good vibes; so it was obviously "the one." Best of all, Terry loved it too.

A good time was had by all? You bet your arse.