Adventures In Sewing Part 4--Not A Drawstring Bag

A while back, I found this adorable fabric in a remnant bin, somewhere...maybe Hobby Lobby?  It's like that with remnants, I never remember where they came from and I never have a real plan for what I'm going to do with them.  I was excited to find some "boy" fabric though, as I've realized my stash is quite floral!

I have a little buddy in Canada with a birthday coming up, so I thought a little bag would be a great way to practice some sewing skills while making a cute gift/book/toy bag.  Found the Book Buddies tutorial over at Sew, Mama, Sew! and set to it.  This was my first attempt at making a bag with a lining, which would have been pretty funny to watch, I'm sure, except for those easily offended as there was a high level of swearing involved.  And seam ripping.  And more swearing.

Long story short, I managed to get the stinkin lining in but somehow sewed it wonky, not allowing for the casing I was supposed to make for the drawstring.  Oooops.  I threw it.  I picked it up, took it to my bedroom and threw it on the floor in the closet.  It sat there a good two weeks.

I finished up my other birthday gifts for my little friend, and decided to pick up the wadded up "bag" and give it a look.  I decided that all of that ripping and swearing would be wasted if I didn't do anything to the bag, so I made some little straps for it.

The straps match the lining, which I forgot to take a picture of, but was another random remnant from somewhere.

Hooray for forced ingenuity!  Lanikins always says sometimes the best things come from "winging it" and in this case, I don't think it came out too bad!