Mail Sack Mayhem

Thanks to some encouragement from Shelly and Crissy and the willingness of the folks at Modern Domestic, I finally got to cross “Start teaching others to sew again” off my massive to-do list.

With the help of Lupine and Crissy, I decided on pattern to use–The Mail Sack from Pink Chalk Studios.

I made up two samples way back in October with some lovely Dear Stella fabrics for one and leftover twill and Washi for the other. Oh and a little fussy-cut Suzy Ultman print. It turned out SO cute! I’m really a sucker for those uber-adorable designs of hers.

After Lupine and I hashed out the nitty-gritty details, it went onto the calendar for January 8 and 15. I could hardly wait, seriously.

Then it finally happened!

The first night we concentrated on tracing our patterns and cutting out the fabric and interfacing. I was more than a bit surprised when it took the entire two hours!

A week later, we met again and had a maniac sewing session. We did both the zipper and patch pockets, worked on top-stitching and clipping corners. You should have heard the oohs and aahs as I showed them the pocket. Such a nifty bit of engineering!

By 9:30, an hour and a half after class was technically over, all three left with their (mostly) finished bags slung over their shoulders, happy as little larks. [J managed to finish hers, but K. and S. had the last bit of top-stitching to do.]

K. picked this fantastic Alexander Henry print for her bag base and combined it with the way over-sized polka dots. It turned out so awesome and fit her perfectly with a little adjustment we’d made to the strap length.

S. had made plenty of tote bags, so she worked on making a bag with a bit more structure. I love how she used the same fabric for yoke and base, just twisting it to go in different directions.

J. totally knew what she was doing and zipped along with only a little bit of guidance. I taught her how to do the zipper and she taught me about Bernina feet.  A real win-win.

While showing them some of the techniques, I’d been putting together my own Mail Sack, so when everyone left, I stayed a little longer to finish it up.

I kinda love it just for the sheer silliness of the fabric. Look, Ma! I finally found my knight in shining armor!

All in all, teaching the class was the most fun I’ve had in a while and I can’t wait to get back in there again. Thanks to Shelly, Crissy, Lupine, Meredith and the ladies who came to class for making that one little dream come true.