Mary Poppins Might Be Jealous...

 

Do you remember Mary Poppins' Magic Bag? Her umbrella and her bag were her two fashion accessories that were also very functional. From that bag came all sorts of things like a lamp and a hat-stand along with lozenges and cough syrup. (I loved all of the PL Travers Mary Poppins books as a child.) Well this colorful big tote bag reminds me of Mary Poppin's bag, though I have yet to try and fit a hat-stand inside. I almost could. No doubt Mary Poppins would have loved this bag. I took a class last fall to learn to make the roomy tote and I just love it. It features assorted Australian Aboriginal print fabrics and a Kookaburra & Jabiru panel. It's called The Aussie Dream Tote.

My usual tote bag projects are simple affairs with handles and that's about it. This project seemed daunting to me as it has two zippered pockets, an inside pocket, and bottle pockets. I was pleasantly surprised that my skill level was up to snuff and I was successful with sewing the bag, especially with the zipper insertion method that was used. I just love this roomy bag and am so glad I took the class.

You can get a better idea of the bag size in this photo with Gabriele Bullard (right) of Fabrilish, the designer of the bag and pattern. She came to our recent quilt show with a display of her Aussie Dream Tote kits. (Gabriele's mannequin is covered in Aboriginal print scraps by the way.) After showing the bag at the guild show-and-tell, a number of members were also interested in taking the class, so Gabriele will be teaching it again after the holidays.

I ran into fellow class members Celeste Beck (center) and her sister Merri McKenzie (right) at the quilt show in Jacksonville, FL. They, too, were carrying their Aussie Dream Totes to hold all those purchases. Celeste chose the kangaroo design for hers. One fun thing about quilt shows (in addition to the quilts and vendors) is seeing how quilters display their love of fabrics in what they wear and carry. All three of us are also wearing our fiber necklaces made during a workshop I taught at the Gainesville guild. And we all sported button bracelets crafted at a Fiber Art Bee meeting. The totes certainly caught the eye of some show-goers who stopped us to ask about the pattern.

Behold, the Humble Button...

They won't wilt and they won't fade! Check out these fun floral bouquets made using buttons and floral wire. I'll bet you have a good-size button jar or tin in your sewing room that's just chock full. I certainly do. So when our Fiber Art Bee group had a button workshop to learn to make fun things using them, I took to it like a duck to water. And it's been non-stop since then. So much color and such a variety of ways to put the buttons together- everything looks good together. Don't they have an almost Seuss-like look? 

A few beads also found their way into the button flower stems. In addition to the fun of making the flowers, I also enjoyed several trips to local thrift stores to find inexpensive vases in which to display them.  My one rule is the vases needed to be under $3, and I found some beauties!

The bouquets look so bright and cheerful sitting on a desk, shelf, or windowsill all around the house. And yet, there is a limit. I want to keep making them and using up buttons, but have space for only a few. So some of these bouquets have been welcomed into a new home after I donated them to our quilt guild's shopping boutique for a recent show. That button box is not empty yet, so I'll keep making these!

The supplies are simple- buttons in assorted colors and sizes, and wire or wrapped floral wire. I prefer handling the floral wire as it seems to have a bit more substance than jewelry wire. It does want to fray at the ends, so I coat each end lightly with clear glue- or even clear nail polish would work. That helps when it's time to thread the wire through the button holes. Just bend the wire in half so the mid-point becomes the top of the flower stem and thread the two wire pieces through the buttonholes. Thread several buttons to make a stack, starting with smallest and working to largest. Twist the wires together for about a half inch or so and add more buttons. You can see that my button stems each have three to five stacks. Then twist all the way to the end of the wires and arrange the stems in a vase. Add some glass marbles at the bottom of the vase to counterbalance the weight of the buttons if needed. So get you some buttons, and start stacking and twisting!