two things today.
first, i wanted to formally welcome my newest sponsor, Blank Slate Patterns! creator Melissa’s patterns first caught my eye when Sophie sewed this awesome piped chevron version of her basic blazer (major wow factor!). i also sewed her blazer pattern for Fantastic Mr. Fox, and currently have a second one cut out and ready to go (super excited about it, too). i was under a bit of a time crunch to get that film petit out and just blazed through the pattern without thinking much, so this time i’m going more slowly and really enjoying it!
Melissa’s full pattern lineup includes great boy basics like trousers, collared shirts, and t-shirts as well as beautiful dresses for the little gals with great classic style. her designs are clean “staple” type patterns, so they lend themselves nicely to customization through fabric selection and your own extra special details. she even has a couple of bag patterns for grown ups! check it all out at Blank Slate Patterns!
item number two is teacher gifts that i never posted about (see what i did there? blank slate? chalkboard? teacher gifts? anyway…). Em has a really great teacher and a wonderfully musical teacher’s assistant – she loves school and is learning TONS from these two ladies, which is so fun to see. i made gifts for both, of course!
for her main teacher, a “notebook paper tote.”
inspired by buzzmills, i thought it was pretty clever to make a bag for a teacher look like a lined piece of paper. i used the triple stitch function on my machine to add a red line up the side of some blue and white seersucker. the handle is blue chambray. i just made up the pattern as i went.
the bottom is boxed, there’s a pocket on the inside, and it’s lined with…cursive print!! i bought it off Anna in a stash-reduction sale and i think it was PERFECT for a teacher. it probably borders on TOO on the nose, but i think it stays on the side of playful rather than groan-worthy…hopefully.
i also threw in a coffee cozy. it’s reversible and i’m thinking about a tutorial, if anyone’s interested.
for the aide, i finally got off my duff and made one of Anna’s open wide pouches which i’d wanted to make forever, in a joel dewberry print with seersucker lining and magenta zipper. super fun tutorial, though i only had short zippers and had to make this one pretty small which made the boxed bottom trickier to maneuver.
she got a coffee cozy too.
have a happy monday!
skirt as top 
Two very lucky teachers! I love the lining of the tote! Perfect!
What BEAUTIFUL gifts!!! 🙂
I bet the teachers at your daughter’s school are excited in the fall when they see Em’s name on their class list – those gifts are awesome!
Those gifts are so fun – you always think through all the special details. I bet those teachers just adored their gifts!!
oh I love it! beautiful gifts and really generous. 🙂 I’m sure she loved them all.
Love them! Two lucky teachers. And yes please to tutorials on the coffee cozy! And that tote, too, if you’re feeling generous 🙂
Can Em be in my class, please?? 🙂 What lucky teachers!
Kristin, I love the bag! I think it’s just perfectly on the nose… 😉 but then again, I think we might be on the same wave length…b/c, you know, I put apples inside my little pouches 😉
I just got around to making Anna’s open wide pouch too! It seemed like a good way to get back into sewing after Christmas! Love yours! 🙂
thanks for the tutorial link! Might have to try those! Yours are cute!
OOOH, love, love, love the fabric choices! These are all awesome. I only wish they were for me. ha.
Ohh what lucky teachers! I would love to see a coffee cozy tutorial!