Perfect attendant for my vacation / One day trip bag

I have been on a long vacation so I couldn't update this blog for a while. How have you been everyone? I hope all of you are having a great Summer (or Winter). We spent a week in North Carolina with my family in laws. We had great days by the ocean. Then, as soon as we came back home, my daughter and I left for Japan to spend about a month with my family and friends. We've been a week in Japan and we are having fun with my family so far. I have tons of things and photos to show and tell you here. But before that, I would like to show a bag I made for myself right before I left for this long vacation. I named it One day trip bag.

I have been wanting to make a travel bag which I can take when I fly to Japan or other countries. I wanted something capacious which is also able to be carried on a plane. I made this bag wider than general totes and the height is shorter. The gusset is also wide so I can store a lot of stuff Nina will need (like snacks, drawing supplies and a set of changing clothes just in case!). The shape is designed especially to fit in under an airplane seat (of course I mean an economy seat) and easy to pull out when I need it. Also I thought of making it open wide to find things inside at a glance.

I added a zipper closure for the opening. So I don't need to worry that stuff will come off when the bag goes through the X ray machine. I made the straps longer for hanging from shoulders. The Yo-yoes on the pull tab and a handle are nice accents.

There is a pocket for my cell phone on the back. This kind of wide and sewn-on handles hold the body firmly.

The exterior fabric is sand beige medium heavy cotton canvas. The interior is cheerful  printed cotton canvas.

There is a couple of simple pockets inside. I wanted some more customized pockets but I didn't have enough time for them. I use some small pouches and a small tote for dividing contents in the bag.

I have been using this bag all the time through this trip. Now I know that it is very functional, durable and appropriate for its use. I like this bag very much. I think this will be good for people need to carry lots of things to work or school everyday. I am thinking to make some more for my Etsy shop for this Fall and Winter. (My shop is currently on vacation mode.)

I am going to post about my trip in Japan. My schedule is pretty much tight so I am not sure how much time I can make for writing. I would like to write about hunting good materials in Japan. (I already got some jewelry making supplies.)

I hope you are having a good week and I will be so glad if I could hear from you sometime. Thank you for reading!

The white dress

Eventually I had time to take some pictures of the white dress for Nina. The pattern is based on the dress in this Japanese sewing book. The author of this book is Yoshiko Tsukiori. She is one of the popular sewing book authors in Japan. I like her design because those are very cute and simple enough to arrange to put some originality in it.

This morning I asked Nina to be a model for this photo shooting. I think you can tell that she is by way of being a super model.

Look at her left shin. That was a shame she got an owie yesterday. (Well, I don't think she even remembers she has a Band-Aid though.)  I made this dress following Nina's drawing (her design) as much as I can. She had two big favors about this dress. One was double ruffles on the skirt. Another one was some pretty flowers around the neck. The pattern I used didn't have both. So I had to adjust it a bit and add big fat double ruffles and pretty lace flowers.

She is so excited that she got these new "High-Heel" sandals for attending the wedding. We purchased these about a month ago. And she has been wearing them in the house. This is the first time she wore them outside! (My house has "No Shoes" policy. You can only wear clean shoes which have never been worn outside!)

Some more posing as a super model. It is hard to see but I sewed lace tapes on the waist line and right above the ruffles just for a little more perfection.

I am sorry that you cannot see flowers very well in this picture. I made these with gathered cotton lace tapes and some pearl beads. I hope you can see the detail in the progress photo below.

We are leaving to North Carolina for attending my brother in law's wedding. We'll stay there about a week then leave to Japan right after. I will keep posting about my trip here and on Facebook. I am going to bring good materials, books, new ideas, stories and more and more from Japan! Please look forward to seeing it, and I hope you all have a good summer vacation too!

☆My Etsy shop is now on vacation mode. It will be reopen sometime in September. There will be coming some changes and many new items so please check it out when I am back!

Summer

I cannot believe it is July already! It's been two weeks since my last post? OK, I know that the time flies like a jet especially after the last day of school. To be honest, I don't feel I achieved much in these weeks. Well, I collected some pictures of activities which has been going around here. Let's see where my time flew away. Maybe I will find something meaningful I have accomplished : )

Field day at school.

The kindergarten graduation.

Nina's 6 years old Birthday party.

We traced Nina's whole body on a big paper.

This is the real size Nina portrait!

We did Tie-dye. The bigger one is made for Nina's best friend and the best baby sitter Wilhe!

The small one is for Nina herself.

We got a kit of making a sun catcher. Nina picked out this "Sun and Moon" design. The color scheme is her own. She didn't want to follow the original color scheme.

And this one, you wouldn't believe this, but it was made about 40 years ago by Nina's Dad! It is still here and in a very good condition!

I did some yard sale shopping. These are some of things I found. A wooden bucket and a set of two Fire King mixing bowls.

I made a crocheted dog for Nina. It took only one hour to finish.

The pattern is from this book. There are many cute dog patterns in it. And those are all quick projects.

We are going to attend my brother in law's wedding soon. Nina is going to be a flower girl. She is required to wear a white dress. So I am making it. Actually it is finished a couple days ago. I just can't have a chance for photo shooting. The weather is pretty nasty here now. These flowers are already sewn on the dress. It is designed by Nina. she is a pretty strict designer for me (I am her seamstress). I will show you the dress when I got some good pictures. I promise.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you all have a good holiday!