Sew Much Fun

I had a brainstorm on Sunday, that I should make a bag for my writing friend, Lala, as a gift when we room together next week at The Clearing. Of course, it would have been smarter to make the bag weeks ago when I had the brainstorm the FIRST time but I'll never get the time back so I flipped through One Yard Wonders and found a super-simple bag pattern. It's called the Baroque Banana Bag but I think that's a terrible name for a cute bag. I had the fabric, only needed to buy a zipper and wide ribbon for the strap. Naturally I had to make one for me too. I picked out the fabric for the bags and linings, and cut them out at work on Monday. On my way home I stopped at JoAnn for zippers and ribbons, then after supper and 2 episodes of Antiques Roadshow, I sewed the first bag body together. It was quick and easy. The directions told you to pin the strap onto the bag and sew it all by hand. That's right, sew the strap onto the bag over the center seam and then sew the 2 layers of ribbon together BY HAND. Two Yards' Worth. And to sew the 16" zipper in by hand too.That was not happening. I suck at handstitching and avoid it at all costs. So I thought about it yesterday while driving Mom around and had a plan by the time I got home. I should have taken in-progress pictures but I didn't think of that until I was done with both of them. Anyway, TA-DA! Didn't they turn out cute? I love them. The ferny one is for Lala and the flowery one's mine. (To give you an idea of their size, that's a sofa cushion they're lying on, so they're about 17" wide and the strap makes them 1 1/2" wide.) My friend Skully commented today that sewing gives you instant gratification unlike knitting which makes you wait sometimes for weeks.