I’ve been working on some small sewing projects. Kid 2 had a pair of fish-print pants that had been not only outgrown but also thoroughly played in, to the point that there was no longer a knee on one side. The fabric was so cute, though! So now we have two bags:
The rectangular hip pack is mine, and the square-ish purse is for Kid 2. I used to sew purses and bags all the time. But it’s been a minute, and I got a little ambitious with the hip pack. I should have done a flat zipper pocket on the front instead of one with a small side panel. It’s all a bit wonky. Not my strongest sewing! The other purse turned out exactly as I imagined, but it’s basically just a zippered pouch on a string, and I can sew a zippered pouch in my sleep.
Aren’t the little zipper pulls cute, though? They’re the ends of the pants drawstring! I’ve also been making some simple drawstring bags/pouches out of old t-shirts that don’t fit the kids anymore. I’ll post photos when I’ve finished a few. I’m in my upcycling era?
My YT algorithm started feeding me a lot of videos about journals and planners a little while back. I kept a daily “journal” for years, not to write about my thoughts and feelings but as a sort of to-do/have-done list. That used to be a big part of my morning routine, but I’ve never been able to consistently find a place for it since having kids.
But I’m very easily persuaded by YT content, so I started thinking about what kind of notebook or journal would be right for me. I had a journal back in college that I made with binder ring clips, and I’ve always liked how eclectic and creative that was, but the thought of making something from scratch was daunting now that I’m… *flops feebly*
But apparently Filofax planners are all the rage these days? (On my narrow slice of the internet, anyway.) It’s all Filofax this and analog that! As many folks have pointed out, the analog “trend” smells a lot like overconsumption, with people buying special bags and supplies to distract themselves from their phones. (One knitter said in a video that the rest of the world has suddenly discovered project bags — yes!) Anyway, I didn’t want to buy a fancy planner because 1) SIGH and 2) will I even stick with it? Enter good thrift vibes:
It’s not Filofax but a Dayrunner Looney Tunes planner from the mid-90s. But basically the exact same thing and less than a buck. A crow sticker nicely covered the Tweety Bird on the front cover. I took out the remaining planner pages and made my own tabbed dividers, cut paper to size (I like plain graph paper best), and printed out some calendars. Clearly my personal aesthetic for this sort of thing settled on “cute” at some point and won’t budge.
I realized I really liked the ring-binder system because it’s so easy to add or lose things or start all over, if I want to. Kid 2 is a little jealous and looking to start her own. My “setup” (as it’s called in the Filofax-girlie world) is not particularly interesting, but if you need to lose one to seven days looking at interesting, stationery-related things, Pinterest can help you out with a little “Filofax setup” search. Then hit the thrift stores!
Here are a couple of random things we’ve made recently.
The discount food store we like surprised us with a few jars of mincemeat (with veggie suet), so Kid 1 helped me make mince pies. She wants to learn to bake lots of different things, and pie crust is a good one to learn! We all liked the pies, but the kids really want to try the crust recipe with various fruit pie fillings — they love a mini pie!
And a few days ago, I gave needle punch a try. Kid 1 had gotten a kit a while back, and it looked like a lot of fun! I made this with leftover yarn from a knitting project. I was annoyed I wasn’t *immediately* a pro, lol, but it’s cute, and it was great to try something new.
