When I am sewing, I often use fabrics that were given to me by friends and relatives. Its bittersweet to look at different fabrics in a scrap quilt and be able to tell where most of them came from, which brings back many memories.
After my mother died, I brought home any fabric that she had left. She had not sewn much in years, but there were whole fabric pieces, scraps and projects in progress. In her attic was a big stack of denim fabric, which I am sure she got when she worked at a sewing factory many years ago. The employees often were given the left overs. After I washed and dried the denim, I found that it was of very high quality and washed up soft and wrinkle free. Its not too thick, but a good thickness for sewing.
I can think of lots of projects to make use of the fabric and here's the first one that I am in the process of making. These will be personalized tote bags for my grandsons. These will be great for bringing to Grandma's when spending the night, or for the Mama's of the 4 still in diapers, to grab on the go. I think they would also be great for storage of small toys, like blocks, legos, etc.
Here are the first three of the five bags. I also have a plastic tote full of kids' fabrics that I lined the bags with. I'll be making Jake and Dylan's bag this week and then hopefully post a picture of all five of the bags.
I used my own
"Reusable Fabric Bags" tutorial. I love that tutorial, even though I wrote it myself! I used the handle that is lined with the same fabric as the bag lining.
So, these bags, not only are a gift from me, but also a gift from Mama to five of her great grandsons! She would have loved that!
