Becka’s Project Journal

Here it is.  I finally have time to show it off!  I want to take you on a virtual tour of the parts of the book I contributed to.  How did I get involved?  The editors are friends.  Crafty Planet (which Trish & Matt own) is so close I can walk there from home.  I knew as soon as I heard about the book that I had to submit some designs.  Thanks to Trish, Matt & Rebecca for the encouragement.  I am thrilled to pieces with the result.

Let’s start with the Laptop Sleeve.  I have one just like this that I carry my laptop around in all the time.  I love it.  I don’t need another bag to carry, I already lug around a tote bag with my lunch and knitting, so this sleeve just slips right in my tote bag. I also made myself a little coordinating zipper bag that I carry around my power cord, LCD adaptor, thumb drive and all those other little gizmos in.  This pattern starts with your laptop’s measurements so you can make it to fit almost anything.  I am pretty sure you could even make a baby one for your iPhone.

That’s on page 100.

Then if you flip to page 238, you see my Cuddly Bear Cushion.

This one is totally designed for my sister Beth.  She is a collector of fetish bears and I had that shape in mind rather than a “teddy bear”.  I think this would be great for long car trips.  Use it as a pillow, use it as a lap desk, pretend to snuffle your brother with it.  Perfect!  Mine is made from corduroy, which is one of my favorite fabrics.  I also made up a prototype with some sunflower print upholstery fabric that is pretty cute too.  That one sits on the shelf in my sewing room and supervises.

My bio is on page 284.  They are organized alphabetically by first name.

Finally, you can look me up in the index if you want to.  I am right before ribbons.

And when you close the book, you might see something familiar on the back cover.

I promise to blog more about some other projects in the book – I do have some favorites and I will post pictures as I try them out.  What’s my favorite part of the book?  I love that it is all the basics in one place.  Although I am perfectly capable of doing it, I don’t want to invent a pattern for a bib or an oven mitt or a cute organizer when I just want to sit down and sew.  I love that I can pull out some fabric and just pick something to make.  As a beginning sewing teacher, I love that it is a whole book of practical projects made with affordable materials.