a polka-dot tote

I realized something recently. That is... I need to actually write in this blog. I think of sharing photos as sharing snapshots of "life at the moment". But really, blogs are for writing and for reading. So I have determined that I will do more writing in my blog. Yes. Starting today.

This morning was a lovely morning. I came out of the house and into a sunny, calm, and crisp world that seemed to be beaming "hello!". Emmy and I walked the neighborhood and met a very nice fellow and his lovely dog. A mutt, he told me, who seemed to be much more interested in meeting me than the overly-excited wiggling puppy at the end of the leash in my hand. Emmy hasn't quite figured out that not everyone is dying to meet her. Every time she sees a person or a dog on the sidewalk, she practically doubles over in joy, wagging her tail ferociously and pulling towards her unsuspecting victim. Recently, I have been trying to teach her to "ignore" people and dogs and to keep moving, because, quite frankly, it gets a little old having to stop every few minutes to say hi to each and every hound, terrier, retriever, boy, girl, man or woman.

Ah yes, the title of this post...... well it refers to the bag(s) that I sewed yesterday (click here for more pictures). I used a pattern from Amy Karol's book, Bend the Rules Sewing. The smaller tote is the one that was produced when I (mostly) followed the pattern. When I got done with it, I looked at it and thought.... "What on earth am I going to do with this???" It is quite tiny. So, I promptly adjusted the pattern and made my own variation that is a little more user friendly. I used a heavy cream colored canvas and a bright green polka-dot fabric. The bag is completely reversible.... And the best part is that I whipped it up in under an hour!