Do you remember the Shake and Bake commercials? The ones where kids said “It’s Shake and Bake, and I helped?” I felt like the kids in those commercials this morning when I brought out my sewing projects and directions to make sure I understood them.

It started innocently enough. I figured I should read through the project to make sure I understood everything while my mom was around to ask questions. That very quickly led to her cutting out the projects, so they would be ready for me when I got around to making them.

While she did this I stood around knitting and drinking coffee. I’m helpful like that.

After she cut out the fabric she decided she should get started on making one to make sure it wasn’t tricky. Then it got out of control. She decided to keep going. She had me pin the bags, cut the notches for the curves, and iron them (you know, the worst part). She showed me what a zipper foot is, so now I know what to look for when I go through my sewing stuff to see if I have one.

I’m now the owner of two cute small project bags. I used the pattern Li’l Knot Bag from Indigo Bird Design. The pattern has three sizes. I made small this time, I think I’ll make a medium bag next time. This size is perfect for socks or other small projects (my Green Bay socks are already in the Hawkeyes bag).

You might recognize the fabric as the fat quarters I bought last weekend in Winterset. I am glad I’ve used them already. I don’t want to develop a fabric stash issue, as I already have that with yarn.

Yesterday I thought it was silly that I brought two sewing projects and three knitting projects with me on a 48 hour trip. It turns out that was close to the right number of projects. I haven’t touched one of the knitting projects, but it is always better to be safe than sorry.