amazing generosity and a new bag for the happy baby

i have a terrible habit of procrastinating–especially when it comes to purchasing fabrics that i don’t have a very explicit use for, even if i love, love, love them i tend to put off buying any because i don’t know how much i’ll need or it seems awfully pricey to buy and have it just sit in my stash waiting to be used… (mr. happy stuff might argue that this is not necessarily a bad type of procrastination) but sometimes it gets me into trouble.  like when a beloved print sells out or goes out of print and becomes impossible to find.  and then i experience this sinking feeling of (really ridiculous) regret.  i have to say that i’m really rather ashamed of both this procrastination and this regret (i think the only cure would be to completely stop looking at new fabrics, but that’s not likely to happen soon) and so it was only in a moment of panic, after reading this message three days after it was posted that i wrote to my dear common threads friend amber.  she always buys the most awesome fabrics and a few years ago i had been able to make a deal with her to get a bit of the elusive heather ross goldfish-in-bags print, so i wrote and asked if maybe, possibly, she might have bought any of the aqua paper boats print and if she might have enough that i could buy a bit from her.  she replied that she didn’t really have a half-yard to spare, but that she could send me maybe a 5″ swatch, but she wouldn’t accept payment or even a trade for it.  humbled by her generosity, i was even more surprised to open the package she sent and find that she’d also sent pieces of the other prints in the “macaroni love story” fabric line.  swoon!

her generosity has inspired me to not hoard the fabric, but instead to actually (gasp) use it!  i knew my first project would incorporate those fantastic aqua boats into a new daily-use daycare totebag for the happy baby.  a few months back, i’d purchased some chalkboard fabric with the intention of sewing this bag, but i wanted to sew it with the back of the fabric facing out.  i love the loose criss-cross of white threads on the backside.  i might regret this choice later when the bag begins to fray, but for now, here it is, in all its crisp, brand-new glory:

i love that this fabric doesn’t fray (no hemming!), but i did add a dark gray twill tape to the top edge of the pocket and the top of the bag since those edges will get extra wear and tear.  i laminated the boat fabric with iron-on plastic lamination and added a layer of chalkboard fabric to the back of the pocket too, so the boats are easy to keep clean and it doesn’t matter if they get wet.  i also added a little oilcloth to the inside bottom of the tote to make it extra sturdy and easily wipe-able.

chalkboard fabric is so stiff that i think i made some permanent creases in it when i turned it right side out at the end of sewing it up.  i had originally thought that maybe the bag could be reversible, but if it gets creases every time we switch back and forth… maybe not.  good thing i love the outside!  it makes me smile to see those boats peeking out of their windows every time i use this bag (which is pretty much every day).

many thanks, dear friend, for sharing your fabulous fabrics with me!  now to dream up projects for the remaining pieces….