Saturday Sampler: Last of Summer Edition

 

Summer has ended on a sad note. Mr. Wonderful had a birthday and we had some lovely celebrations but a few days later he lost his mother. He's just gotten home from Texas and we are tired and drained but also feeling very blessed by all the love and care from our church family. It's a quiet, rainy Saturday. The house is clean, the laundry done, the fridge stocked. I wanted to make sure when he got home, everything could stop and be quiet, so he could rest. 

June and July had been taken up mostly with my big sewing room clean out project, but that skidded to a halt in early August. We lost a member of our church family and there was busyness with that, and then we had our own loss. So, I'm behind with some things I had wanted to have finished by the end of summer. But that's life. Someone once said, "Life is what happens to you while you're making other plans."

I'm looking forward to fall, though cooler weather is a while off yet. Looking forward to getting back into my sewing room and finishing that up. Looking forward to settling back into my stitching. Just looking forward to normal after a month of loss and everything that goes with it.

I hope the last few days of summer are finding you well, and that you're feeling that little spark of anticipation of all the lovely things fall brings, even if you have to fake fall like I do!

Happy Birthday, Babies!

 

The werewolves are four years old today! I look back at their baby pictures and can't believe they were ever that tiny and fragile. Happy Birthday to our beautiful girls!

Easy Fix for Floppy Bags

 

I love bags. Not expensive designer bags, but high utility, go anywhere, do anything bags. I especially like small ones that hold a lot and have lots of pockets and zippers and nooks and crannies. I'm a bit of a connoisseur. 

I keep a "go bag" (under an airline seat size) packed and ready at all times. To accompany that bag, I like to have a small crossbody bag to wear that holds the usual purse stuff. Between those two bags, I can skip checking luggage, quickly get through security, hop on a flight, and have all my things with me at all times, without worrying about whether my luggage will make it to my destination. (Why I do this might be a subject for another post.)

I have prowled Amazon for many hours in search of wonderful (inexpensive!) bags, and I've found that many of the ones with the features I like are also made of nylon, which is cool because they're water resistant, but uncool because they often don't have rigid bottoms and they're floppy, which I don't like.

Bottomless and floppy (boooo!)

Fortunately, this is easy to fix. All you need is some cardboard or other stiff-ish material, fabric, and glue.

Measure the bottom of the bag, between the seams. Stretch the fabric slightly to get an accurate measurement. You'll want the bottom to fit snugly.

Cut your bottom material a tiny bit smaller than your measurement, and remember a thicker bottom like cardboard will be less forgiving size-wise. You want to use something that is stiff but not so rigid it can't be manipulated, as you'll have to work it in under those seams. Trim the corners to make it easier to fit under the end seams.

Cover cardboard with fabric (I used hot glue to secure it). Work the bottom in under the seams and that's all there is to it.

Not floppy (yaaaay!)

Having a rigid bottom in a bag makes it a little easier to dig around in (think digging around in a box as opposed to a plastic bag), and it's kinda fun to customize with pretty fabric. It's also a good way to brighten up the inside to make it easier to see what's in there.

The straps are also from Amazon and are sold as "camera straps." They come in tons of colors and designs and are another fun way to customize a bag. A wider strap is also more comfortable than a skinny one, at least for me.

Hope this is helpful, and may you find the perfect bag!