December

No photos from Thanksgiving, but we did all have fun! Early December had a Tae Kwon Do demonstration at a Mui Thai fight night. The opposit end of the spectrum was the final Christmas pageant at the daycare/preschool our kids attended. DS graduates from kindergarten this year!

Early November

These are actually from two trips out! I can't believe the weather we've had so far this fall!

I remember hiking here as a kid. Everything seems so much smaller now :) A friendly family with a huge dog took this pic for us.

Steelers Game

We bought tickets from a charity auction and went to an early season Steelers game. We had more fun before the game doing all kinds of goofy games! The Steelers did win and we had fun during the game too. The park is amazing - it was our first time there.

Happy Halloween!

It has been an eventful few months! October - started going to a chiropractor and, whew, it hurts for a bit, but I don't wake up stiff anymore and I can bend and twist! I just now started going every other week. The kids and dh still had their busy schedules too.

All the kids walked together with a couple parents. My dd and I made the puppy costume.

hee hee - I can never resist dressing up! My ds is on the left.

One baby pumpkin from our garden. I forgot to take pics when they were carved!

Tutorial - bag handles

I hope someone will find this useful! Although I love making bags, I loathe making the handles. I've tried various methods, bought "tube turners" and tried adapting patterns to make them easier. I finally came up with this. Basically, the tube is sewn wrong sides together. Seam allowance is trimmed (only if necessary!) and another one or two layers are added. The multiple tubes are pressed with the seam open. Then sewn to each other with the seam allowance sides touching. Voila! No turning, no interfacing (usually) necessary!

Pressing the seam allowance. I usually eyeball it to make sure it is centered. Sorry about the gross ironing board cover...

The cut strips need to be two times the width of your trim or top strip, plus two seam allowances because it's folded. My trim was 1/2 inch, co I cut the fabric 1.5 inches.
Stitching trim to the coordinating fabric. You can see the seam allowance peaking out a little. I should have trimmed it better. When I was done sewing, I just pulled any stray threads and no one knows the difference ;-) shhh - don't tell on me.

If the trim or second fabric piece are narrow, a serpentine or honeycomb stitch works great! It the pieces are a little wider, a great stitch is the blind stitch so you can catch the top and the bottom at once. I do both edges, then the back of the handles are attractive too. (no pic of that one here. Camera is on the blink.)

Trim to the length you need and attach to your bag as needed. Enjoy!

A friend of mine bought this fabric and asked me to make several bags for her. In addition to these, there was also a makeup bag and a "travel tray." I've seen the idea a couple places, but didn't have a pattern. I winged it and put my own twist on the style. Next up will be my tutorial on the way I made the handles.

Little gifts 2

...are most appreciated. We gave the workers each a little makeup bag and gift card to TGI Fridays. One of the four said, "No, I can't take tips." But I know how these things work. The gifts were for "their wives." Then, of course he accepted gratiously ;-) Plus, the crew chief had already accepted his, so I wasn't taking no for an answer - LOL. They were all very nice and kept everything very neat. I felt they deserved a gift for all their hard work.