Bridesmaid bags

*sigh* I always have the best of intentions with keeping this blog more updated, but it always gets away from me. If you're still reading me in your feed or checking back for updates, thank you for sticking around!

As you may have noticed, it was wedding central with a lot of my summer crafting. What you see above are the six bags my future sister-in-law (now ACTUAL sister-in-law!) commissioned me to make for her bridesmaids. She really liked this spring tote I had made previously (using a pattern from Stitch magazine), but it needed some adaptations. Anne wanted the bags to be large enough to hold a pair of flip flops, a bottle of water, and other assorted necessities.

I took the same general shape and made a few dummy bags, eventually deciding on one that was about 15" square, then rounding off the bottom corners. Because the bag was smaller, I wanted to reduce the number of grommets in the top, too, but that posed some issues as well: How was I going to get the strap to be outside in the right places? I fixed this by adding a small channel on the insides to thread the strap through.

Anne chose all of the fabrics to go along with their wedding colors of purple and silver. I machine embroidered initial tags to go on each of the straps. They're completely removable, but I figured six girls with similar bag contents would want an easy way to tell them apart!

This project was a bit more time-consuming than I initially thought, what with us changing fabrics a few times, adding the strap channels, and then all that hammering to insert those grommets! Still, Anne was incredibly gracious and complimentary about them. After she gifted them to her bridesmaids at the rehearsal dinner, most of them came over to hug me and thank me for the bags. And then, while we were hanging out in the church before the ceremony, one of the photographers came over, asked if I was Tim's sister, and then complimented me profusely on the bags! It was so so sweet, and a much-needed boost of confidence before I had to get up in front of all those people and do a reading during the ceremony!

So, while these bags are grand, I still have to show you my dress and jacket for the wedding! I wasn't in the bridal party, so I was able to craft my own.

Also, Hilary and I will be vending at the Holiday Craft Market in Beverly TOMORROW! If you're in the Boston area and would like to come out, we'd love to see you! You can see a peek of our wares from our recent farmers' market table (and me freezing my butt off outside) in Hilary's Flickr stream here.

ETA: I am in love with all things Colette these days, but I just adore this post! I think Sarai is doing everything right and can't wait to get my hands on her book!