A Weekender Bag for Gardeners on First Day of Snow.

How fitting! I finished the really large Weekended Tote Bag for Gardeners on the day of the first snow in Massachusetts. I watched the BBC “Line of Duty” as I sewed it and this is 7 season show. (30+ episodes) This will tell you how long it took me. If you count the amount of time it took to plant the zinnia seeds in the spring and wait for them to bloom late in summer…well, you get my point.

I saw on Instagram a 30-second movie about a craftsman in his studio who makes musical instruments. The background music was short and sweet, “Want to know why my work is so expensive? Because it takes f’ing forever.” I laughed out loud. Other folks cut fabric and sew the fabric much faster. But, my sewing sweatshop is on a glacial pace.

These were the original flowers I picked from my garden and photographed.

Today, I’ll lace up a few strips of this soft pink leather for a key fob. I also think I may be veering into the suitcase business. This bag is large enough to carry around a 20-pound turkey and still close the recessed zipper. AND, I am buying a leather lacing gizmo today. Gizmos are my downfall.


I have been working for a year on making a design for the lining of my “story” bags. It has to be neutral in some cases and washed with color in others. This week, I think, I’ve created the foundation based on the alphabet. I bought a stencil and one morning just went at it with a vengeance of paints, oil sticks, pan pastels, and even some pencil shavings. I’ll write about this in another post. But, here’s an example of the black and white version.