I made this!

After lots of blood, sweat, and tears (ok, none of that, but there was a lot of swearing and some beer), I managed to MAKE a THING from scratch on my new sewing machine. It's this:
It's a simplified version of an already simple bag that SouleMama describes in Handmade Home, a sweet little book. Let me tell you - crafts are not for the faint of heart. I'd be interest in feedback from other people who I know have made QUILTS (holy shit!) how the hell you got over the beginner's crap that goes along with figuring out how to use the machine. It's like learning how to drive stick all over again. I don't know that I'll EVER get the hang of it. I only hope that, like driving, the feeling is fleeting and I develop some competence.

In any case, I made this bag! And it looks... OK! The side seams are pretty good, but the work at the top is questionable at best. I LOVE the material, though. I got it on etsy from thisandthatJapan's shop. I only got half a yard of this mustard color (so now I have mere scraps left) but I ordered more of the grey color in anticipation of making a new curtain for my man's front door window.

Here's a close-up of the draw-string part. I used leather cord. I was not brave enough to use the button-hole setting on the sewing machine, so I just did the opening for the cord by hand. I think after another beer I would have tried it, but I was so close to the end and I didn't want to just fuck the whole thing up after all that re-threading of the goddamn bobbin (it keeps breaking and I keep adjusting the tension - it's killing me!).

I'm hoping to make more stuff that sucks less and does not drive me to drink. But I'm happy with this as a first try. I'm currently using this bag to tote my yoga clothes to and from work. That shouldn't put too much stress on it...
And I made THIS for breakfast. Delicious! ThingsIliketoLookAt posted a similar picture the other day, and it looked SO good (bread! eggs! butter! salt!). Yum, am I right?