And Now For Something Else

I finished my mother's Christmas gift. I thought it turned out fantastic. I misjudged a few things about it (namely that the cardboard that I tacked the fabric to with loads of hot glue was too small and I had to use the glass for the frame to keep it inside) but it's still nice. My daughter has A LOT of hair, and I think this captured that, LOL (it comes midback and she's not even 2). I tried to photograph it, but it's hard to see the detail (I backstitched around the silhouette with a dark olive thread).
like I said, you can't really see the detail ;D I couldn't think of anything else I could make (immediately) for Christmas, so I finished up a project I had been working on for a swap. The them was 'green' and part of the swap was a tote exchange. I decided to follow this tutorial from Made. I don't really shop at Target, so that left me with the golden off-brownish color from my local grocery store. I only wanted to make one bag, so I made 3 plastic sheets.
You can see where I started--that big melted spot where I tried to figure out the magic setting for my iron (it ended up being 4, cotton blend). I used 9 sheets. I think that was just one too many. I read a few tutes and they said 6-8, but the bags seemed so flimsy that I tried 9. It was too hard to get all the layers to fuse together without scorching the material. I HIGHLY recommend making a practice sandwich with the parts of the bag you don't use (in this case, the front of the bag that had the store logo on it). I wish I had thought to do that. Another thing, you end up having to trim (or I did, at least) to make straight edges. That eats into your available material. I was, however, able to make 1 bag out of my 2.5 sheets of usable plastic.
I used some scraps to make the design on the front (and handles) and used ecofelt for the eyes. It was pretty easy to sew (I used a 90/14 needle). The plastic was a little harder to control than fabric since it was so slippery. I messed up on the front (I forgot that the seam was supposed to show, and I turned it, but on the front only. The seam allowance is exposed everywhere else.). I was very tempted to keep this bag! I really liked it. It felt nice in my hand, too (I made the handle only 1.5 wide, though.). I will definitely make more :D But I will only use 8 layers (I learned my lesson ;D).

And another little something else: RetroMummy is having a FQ giveaway! (I love these ;D). The fabric range for Sweet Broderie is just so sweet and fun. It's perfect for my little darling. It includes a playful mix of yellow, lime, aqua and two shades of pink with flowers. Totally yay :D