Homemade >> Love

Fact about me: I am terrible at making things. I really want to be one of those girls who can whip up a sewing project, or turn out pretty knitty things by the dozen, but I just can't for some reason. I don't have the patience to sit and make millions of tiny stitches, or purl row after row for more than 20 minutes straight. Also, I am sort of an anti-perfectionist, which is not good in the craft world. I like to do things that you don't have to pay too much attention to, and where mistakes become part of the beauty of the finished product. This is why I love toy photography and yoga. When you make a "mistake" in those endeavors, they just become happy accidents!

But I LOVE handmade things. I love that someone loved this item, that it was made with care and thought, and that it is unlike any other thing in the whole world. I can't resist buying embroidered tea towels at garage sales, and old doilies at the thrift store. It makes me so sad that these things that someone painstakingly created from nothing are heaped into the same pile as old k-mart dishtowels. I rescue more of them than my husband thinks that I ought to, but they make for a special collection.

Lucky for me, I also have an awesome sister who inherited the crafty gene from our mother. She's made me all sorts of things over the years, but here are two of her latest that she made me: a custom laptop bag, and a yoga mat bag.

I had found a couple of pics from Etsy and Pinterest of similar items, and then she set about creating her own patterns. A couple of weeks later, a package arrived with these two lovelies! The laptop bag is especially rad. I should have taken a pic of the inside, but it's lined with a quilted material to protect my computer, and she sewed a pocket inside to hold little things. The nylon straps wrap all the way around, so even though it looks delicate, it's a super sturdy little bag. The mat bag is pretty great, too. It fits my mat perfectly, and since it's an open pattern, it lets my mat air out a bit in between uses. She added little beads to the end of the toggle closure, which was a cute touch. Love it! I'm trying to get he to open an Etsy shop of her own. I think she could definitely be successful!

This last pic is of the quilt I found at a local antique store. It caught my eye, and when I looked at the price and saw it was only $10, I knew it had to come home with me. It's all soft and worn in, and just needed a wash and small repair job. Plus, it's plenty big enough for our queen-sized bed. I wonder what life this quilt had before it came to us?

shanti >> sondra

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