Sylvia's Simple Shots

A robin having a bath and a lot of fun in a rain puddle morning.

There were several birds taking advantage of the puddles to splish and splash.

I found some more of the votive holders I bought a while ago for my Advent Wreath/ all year round candle display.  I had a mixture of cobalt and white before.  Now I can make it all white if I want.

Super happy to find these additional holders which gives me flexibility in my decor.

Some veggies from my sister's garden that my niece picked on her way to my place.

Fresh carrots are the best.

Some of the cucumbers are a bit on the large size but I love them too.

A few tomatoes we had for breakfast.

My niece and I had a great time at the ReUse Center and the thrift store. We came home and pulled out all our goodies before we headed out for supper at my sister's house.

Magazines, crafting stuff, each found a fountain pen amongst our tea and snack dishes.

We picked up take out and headed to my sister's house for supper.  Korean was the request of the birthday girl.

My sister had a friend visiting and her husband has been ill and was in hospital.

We talked crafting, life and much more.

It was really nice to spend time with family and friends.

I picked up this wax container at the Thrift store while my niece is visiting.

I thought I could use it when I wanted to wax my thread for stitching.

It is a high quality blend of paraffin wax.  I chose a mild scented one.  From my online research paraffin is the the best so I may try to find a beeswax candle that I can melt and fill this little container.

I was looking for a bin/tote that I could place under the phone table in the living room that would look pretty and disguise the contents.

I found the fabric tote at a thrift store for a couple of bucks, it works with the wood I have in my space.

The baskets were more expensive and now I see this is a better option for sliding on the new floor.  The wicker type basket would have scratched.

Excellent.

 

Take Out / Take Away Bag

In my city, the Single-use Item Reduction bylaw came into effect on July 1, 2023. That means when I order take out food at a restaurant - some single use items would only be provided when requested and some would be offered at a cost. Plastic bags for take out were banned and paper bags would come at a cost of $.15.  I am okay with that but I still need a bag to bring my food home in so that it does not end up spilling in my car.

I set out to make such a bag.  I generally would need a small bag when I hit Tim Horton's or Wendy's but I got Vietnamese food the other day and that container was much larger.  I determined that I needed a bag around 9 inches square, the sides not too high and a way to close that would keep the food inside. Would be nice if it folded flat when I stored it in my car.

Here's is the result.

The floral fabric is a couple of strips of heavy cotton fabric I found for free at the ReUse Center last week.  The weight was a good start to having a sturdy bag. The strips were only 8 inches wide so I had to piece the bottom and I made it double layer so the inside would be nice with no seams showing.

I cut 2  pieces of 9.5 inch wide and 8 inches tall. Then I cut 2 strips of 9.5 inch wide and 2 inches tall to supplement the other pieces to end up a bottom that was 9" square finished.

I sewed the narrow strips to the large pieces on the 9.5 inch side.  I then ironed them and top stitched the seam.

Once both were done and put right sides together and sewed all the way around leaving a space to turn it right side out. Then I ironed that flat.  

The side piece was cut 8" tall and 38 inches long. Once layer was floral and the back was teal microfiber fabric which will be on the inside. Stitch all the way around and turned it right side out.

I pinned it to the bottom with lining on top of the bottom.  Once I identified the corners every 9 inches and sewed a seam from top to bottom of the eight inch length on all four corners. This will help stiffen the sides.  Then I went ahead and sewed the sides to the bottom matching the corner seams with the corners on the bottom piece.  The ends were overlapped on the front of the bag, again to help stiffen the front of the bag. 

The inside of the bag is floral on the bottom and teal on the sides.  The take out container fits perfectly on the bottom of the bag.

The handles are asymmetrical in the front loop is short and the bag loop is long.  They are made of teal microfiber.  The strip was 6 inches tall and about 38 inches long.  I folded the strip in half and iron it flat.  I then opened it and iron each half to the center.  I top stitched along both the open side and the folded side which helps to provide some stiffness to the handles.

To close the bag the long back loop is pulled through the short front loop and the bag is closed.  The join is above the center of the bag so it stays level.

I had to make it pretty as well.  I cut a large scallop circle from the floral fabric and sewed it over the ends of the front handles with a zigzag stitch

I hand sewed a teal button in the center of the flower for a final touch.

I am very happy at how this bag turned out.  

• It is large enough to handle any take out order I will make, 
• It will hold the contents securely inside the bag, and
• I have a loop handle to carry it along with anything else that is in my hands
• It folds flat and I can tuck it into a pocket in the car so it will always ready at hand when I need it.