Tuesday, June 10, 2008

another self portrait


Seriously, I'm so in love with this bag that I made for myself, I was contemplating marrying it.  But then I realized that I AM it.  It's really just Really Happy Me made over in a breezy summer bag. (I'm like the prince from Enchanted, "What's not to like?")  This is how I feel when I watch my husband eat corn on the cob. Seriously, it's the funniest thing in the world (ask Rose, she knows).  He can eat a whole cob without coming up for air!  It makes me laugh.

 I made the flower using the book I got in Asheville. I made it out of a pair of Chris's old sweats (they shrunk before their time, so the fabric was still nice).  The awesome button is from my beloved trench coat (it was the extra one).  I actually made this flower last week but it fit this project perfectly!  Doesn't it just make you want to grab your suit and head to the pool.  That's where I was headed earlier today when these pics were taken, and although you can't really see it, I'm equally in love with my fun new cover up.
And look...I'm all yellow on the inside!  Who knew?  I do love yellow.  I invented this pocket on my own. I'm so proud of myself.  It's perfect!

So does this make you wonder what you would look like if you did your self portrait in a bag?

Do you want to hear something interesting?  OK good!  In my color class at BYU one of our exercises was to draw our self portrait using only shapes and colors (abstract, get it) and then choose a class mate and do theirs.  The freaky thing was that they looked alike.  For example, the hot guy in the class drew his picture and me and another girl both picked him to draw and all three abstract drawings of that dude looked alike.  Same colors, same shapes and they were all put together in pretty much the same way.  Cool, huh!

FYI:
I got the pattern from this book.  But I added the flower and pocket myself.  I got the pattern for the flower from this book.   The only think I invented all on my own is the pocket, and  I based that off of my favorite pocket in one of my other bags.  So I kind of copied that, too.  If any of you make it let me know! I want to see pictures.

8 comments:

Katie said...

I LOVE it! Did you come up with the pattern all by yourself? It looks like it was pretty easy. I love the fabric. Mom and I were talking about how you have such good taste in fabric.

andrea said...

Thanks! I added the links at the bottom of the post to the books I used. It is pretty simple you could easily make it yourself to any dimensions.

I'm glad you guys think I've got good taste in fabric, but the truth is that I finally found out where to find the good stuff thanks to Mandee. I have a really nice store in my town, but you can find a lot of the same stuff at www.jcarolinecreative.com and she has good prices. It's more expensive than Joann's. But it makes the projects look so much better using really pretty fabric. Look for a quilting shop in your town. also, look at www.hancocks-paducah.com. Happy fabric shopping!

mindy said...

that is SUCH A STINKIN' CUTE BAG!!! did you know that you are the one responsible for my present love of bags? Yup, you gave me that cute little drawstring backpack years ago (which I still have even though it's thoroughly worn out...I also purchased two others like it over the years) and I fell in love with bags. I seriously need to get that book so I can make cute things, too.

Well done!!

Anonymous said...

drea! that bag is freakin' sweet! and yes i can totally vouche for chris being THE most entertaining to watch while eating corn on the cob haha makes me laugh just thinking about it.

One Happy Family said...

Yet another cute project. I've often wondered how you find the time to do these projects. Nevertheless you have inspired me to purchase a book titled, "The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination & Nurture Family Connections". I'm contemplating this one...Last-Minute Fabric Gifts: 30 Hand-Sew, Machine-Sew, and No-Sew Projects. I too like these kinds of things. I guess it's a matter of making the time.

andrea said...

Thanks guys for all the bag love! How do I find the time? You're right I make it. Almost no TV really helps me. Nap time, and I stay busy pretty much all the time. I probably don't play with my kids as much as you do (I think we've had this conversation before.) And my kids are sleeping through the night, so that's a big factor. I guess you are still working on that one. Give yourself a year. When your kids are playing with each other and you have had a good nights rest you will feel like making things while they play, nap time, or at night.
To make this bag, I let my kids have a water fight in the shower. It bought me a good hour!

naomi megan. said...

andrea.
thank you for your sweet comment on my blog. you sound absolutely wonderful and i appreciate your kind words!. anyway, thank you for not being a stranger and saying hello.
take care,
naomi.

Lori said...

Oh, I love that sweet bag. I love that it's yellow inside, that's a nice surprise.