sewing : therapeutic bag making

Whenever I find a new or stressful event approaching I my default coping mechanism seems to be sewing bags.

Bags to sort things... bags to put things in... and above all, bags to organise.

If only I can get my 'stuff' arranged neat and tidy in some shiny new bags, then surely everything else will just fall into place.

And so there have been: shoe bags (for a conference in the US); box bags for new baby stuff for the birth of #1 son; small bags for toys for the children's hospital...

...and now there is a cute blue elephant drawstring bag for #1 son's first day at nursery.

From cutting to the final ironing on of the name tag and tidying up after myself it took 1 1/2 hours, mainly thanks to the help off my new machine who sings a high-pitched little song whist seeing away.

This was so simple to make and although I was sewing at gone 10pm, which is the only uninterrupted sewing time I have, everything went right first time. I even managed to get all the fabric the right way round when attaching the lining without having to resort to notes or seam ripping.

 I used an adorable teal coloured elephant print fabric from The Eternal Maker and lined it with some shirting fabric from a shop in Brixton which cost £2/meter and 2 meters of cheap anorak cord.

The dimensions of the fabric cut were 36 x 43 cm, two for the lining and two for the elephant fabric. This allowed for a1cm seam allowances at the sides, and 2 cm at the top for the casing. The small loops for attaching the bottom of the cord where made from leftover fabric.

To finish it off I attached a small iron-on name label to the inside. All told it's a perfect size for a change of clothes and Bun-Bun's that all-important rabbit. And it makes me happy to see the smiling elephants hanging from #1 son's nursery peg.