I’ve created quite a few things over the last year, ever since I got a little obsessed with sewing.

First up were a few easy-peasy flat bottomed zippered pouches.  I made a couple different sizes, mainly because they’re really easy.  So far, they’re my go-to gift for those difficult to buy for recipients.  🙂

I can’t give an exact idea of how much fabric is needed, mainly because this bag can literally be any size desired.  I suggest creating the pattern on paper, then determining the amount of fabric required to fit the pattern.  This pattern isn’t mine.  I got it from here: Flat Bottomed Bag Tutorial

Once I got more comfortable with sewing again, and reading up on tutorials like the above, I finally talked myself into trying something more difficult.  I had already ordered Amy Butler’s Weekender Bag, but after reading some of the tutorials, got a little gun-shy.  However, I finally had enough courage to get started.

With the help of another tutorial, I also made some immediate modifications to the bag.  A picture of the bag is below, but I’m going to use my first few posts in Sewing to go through how I make my bag (this is due to the fact that I’m making two more of these bags in the near future – one for my sister-in-law, J, the other for my mom.)  I’ll detail there what modifications I made, and how.  But here’s the finished picture:

In order to make the weekender bag more organized, I made a couple more bags (in addition to the gray zippered one above.  One is in the boxy, men’s toiletry kit style (from this tutorial):

The other a much more difficult to sew cylinder.  Don’t know if I’ll do the cylinder again (from this tutorial):

After that, I put together some Christmas gifts for some loved ones.  My quartet members received these handbags, large enough to carry music:

These were made from the Riviera Handbag pattern from Annie’s Craft Store.

For my husband’s cousin’s three kids, I found horse and unicorn stuffed animal patterns by Funky Friends Factory:

And for my new nephew/godson, a stuffed monkey with an embroidered foot, also from Funky Friends Factory:

And so, these are all of the major sewing projects that I’ve accomplished since the middle of last year.  I feel good about them, and am looking for more challenges.  First up, more weekender bags, and creating the tutorial!