Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

Crafts-a lot Contributor, Mable who is an avid reader of craft blogs & magazines and has aspirations to improve her crafting skills.

I’m proud to say that it’s been years since I’ve given my family members a store-bought gifts. My gifts vary depending on the person and which craft I’m into at the time. Last Christmas my family received scrapbook calendars. I designed each scrapbook layout depending on the month’s holidays, birthdays and past trips we took that month. For birthdays this year I made candles and candle holders. For Mother’s and Father’s day I used Mod Podge and scrapbooking paper to decorate Paper Mache frames.

Now that Christmas is over, I can blog about what I made this year! This year I’m into sewing. Since everyone is carrying their laptops everywhere, I made messenger bags to tote them around. I used the Stitchin’ Post Messenger Bag & Quilted Laptop Pattern. This pattern was easy to understand, even for a novice sewer like me. But an expert sewer could use this pattern as a template to customize their bags.

I had fun picking out the fabric from each bag. I choose quilting fabric because I wanted something bright and fun. I used interfacing to make the fabric stiffer and so the bag would hold its shape. I followed the pattern and made one large pocket, and a divided inside pocket.

Now that I’ve already made a few bags, I’ve got a ton of ideas to add to my next bag. Which just so happens to be for me :) I would like to add a side outside pocket for my cell phone. Also I want it to close by sewing a loop to the bottom front seam, and a button on the top flap to button it closed. What would you add?