My New Clutch

In May, Kevin and I attended Robert Burns Night at his Masonic Lodge. This is a rather fancy affair, with the men sporting tuxedos, smoking cigars and drinking Scotch.

Fancy but also fun, as you can see.

As someone who spent 5 years as an at-home mom, swiftly followed by a return to college, where coming to class in pajamas and flip flops is the norm*, my wardrobe wasn't really going to work for this affair.

*Note: I do not wear pajamas or flip flops to class, but considering the number of people who do, I sometimes feel overdressed in jeans.

As you can see, I was able to come up with a suitable dress, but I knew that my mini-messenger purse was not going to work. So I made this:

It's Amy Butler's Stash and Dash Bag pattern. I made the large size, and, as noted in the pattern, it makes a great clutch.

It is just big enough to fit my wallet, some lipstick and my little Canon PowerShot.

I think this would also be great for someone who usually travels with a diaper bag. I often wished I had a small purse that held the essentials that I could throw in the diaper bag when traveling with my sidekicks, or grab out of the diaper bag when venturing off on my own. It's such a pain to carry a purse and a diaper bag.

This was a really easy pattern and a quick sew. It took me a couple of hours, but I am a little crazy about pressing and the girls were keeping me company while I sewed. Amy Butler is such a genius!

Hot Pack

Hello!

I have made some stuff in the past 6 months, but I sure haven't taken any photos. Planning to do that now that the rain has stopped (I was all ready to make an arc, too!), but for now, here's my latest. And I will tell you what: this is the first time ever I have just whipped up something I needed, with nothing but scraps from the bin and no plan, and I was rather impressed with myself.

OK, so it's just a rice bag hot pack, but still.

See, Nora has had strep throat and a sinus infection for 2 weeks. Yes, two whole weeks. She got sick the first day of summer vacation, which was 2 weeks ago today. She went through 8 days of one antibiotic, initially improving and then getting much worse, and then got a new antibiotic. Last night, after she cried in pain for over an hour, I called my cousin/neighbor, who knows a few things about sinus infections, and she suggested a hot pack. And since Nora is a petite eight year old, I figured she needed an appropriately-sized hot pack. I think the finished size is 4 1/2 inches wide by 8 1/2 inches long. We microwave it for 90 seconds and she can hold it against her cheeks, her ears, her head, her eyes, etc. All of those things hurt right now. She loves this little thing so much that I had to promise Dana I will make her one, too, once I remember to buy more rice.

In case you can't tell, the white muslin is filled with rice, and the floral and dots flannels are a removable and washable cover with a Velcro closure. I don't know about Velcro in the microwave, so we pull off the cover before heating it up.

Nora needed a little treat last night, and of all the things in she could choose (I would have bought her anything in the entire grocery store at that point), she chose Panda black licorice. Where did this lovely creature come from? Grandpa Don loves this stuff, too.

I'll post some of my winter and spring projects soon. I promise.