To the Netherlands and back

The laziness of summer is officially over, and I'm back to crafty business. First, a recap of my trip to the Netherlands!

Erica and I went to visit Lisa who is getting her master's in the city of Leiden. The country is conveniently small, so we got to cover a lot of it in our week there - each day a new city: Leiden, Amsterdam, Den Haag, Utrecht, and Delft.

Windmills, bikes and canals. Everywhere!

The only souvenirs I brought back were fabric! I got this adorable and cliche Holland-y fabric at the market in Leiden. Not sure what I'll be making yet...

And I HAD to come back with some oil cloth because it is everywhere over there! So many shops have rolls and rolls of colorful prints. I guess a lot of people use it to make bags for the backs of their bicycles. I'm hoping to get a bike soon, so I'll definitely be fashioning a bag for myself!

When I got back, Heidi from work commissioned me to craft a batman cape for her little friend Eli's 4th birthday. So cute! Apparently he put it right on and had to ride around on his bike to see it fly in the wind!

Crafted a new case for my camera.

I love these two fabrics together!

This week's project was a gathered bag from a tutorial that I found on Ruffles and Stuff. I made this first one last weekend. The red and white fabric was actually supposed to be the liner, but as I was sewing it together I thought it was much more interesting to use the contrasting fabrics on the outside. I think I'm going to give this to Monica for her birthday.

I learned a few things in the process of making the first bag and trying it out for a day. First - I made sure to place the seam of the band on the top of the bag in a spot where one of the straps would cover it. Second - I found that when I used the bag I was having trouble digging things out from inside, so I added a pocket to the lining for essentials like wallet & cell phone. Third, I felt like it could use a closure of some kind of the top, so I added a magnetic snap. Still not sure how I feel about it...it's actually kind of a strong magnet. I guess I'll try it for the week and see how I like the new tote!

I plan to get back in the habit of posting frequently, so stay tuned for more posts, and news about craftland and new urban arts!