19 April, 2017

With Apologies to Jack and Diane

This post is about Ditty Bags, beginning with a little ditty; but, sorry, this one isn't about Jack and Diane*! The Ditty Bags were last month's project from the Let's Get Organized club at my LQS. Featuring patterns by Annie every month this year I have already managed to make a Stash and Dash and a set of Nesting Boxes, I am quite pleased with the results. For the Ditty Bags I chose to make the smallest one first, to keep for myself. My idea was that I could work out any "kinks" in the construction before I turned my attention to the two larger ones which I planned to make as a gift set. As it turns out, the instructions were so well written, and clearly illustrated, that there were no kinks to be found!

The small Ditty Bag is perfect for a few essentials, just the right size to fit inside my purse. 

I love this pattern, all the seams are finished inside, making for a very neat and tidy interior. I chose to bind the inside seams with contrasting fabric in the bag's accent color, just for fun.

This is the set, the large and the medium bags, a gift for my daughter. She is an Auburn grad and will love these fabric choices. War Eagle!


I have an extra Ditty Bag pattern for these bags in all three sizes, as shown; I would love to give it away. If you would like a chance to win the pattern simply leave a comment below with your best organizational tip and I will draw a random winner one week from today. Make sure that you have an email address attached to your account so that I can reach you, should you win. We'll all be winners with a list of organizational tips; thank YOU, in advance. Good luck!


This post has it all today: a project show and tell, a giveaway and music (click below)!
Life is Good!
😊



16 comments:

Sherrill said...

Love the ditty bag although not sure mine would look as perfect as yours! I'd love a chance..thanks SO much!

Unknown said...

I love the bags..hope I win!

Unknown said...

My best organization tip is that I try get everything done one day before it is due. For example when we had twenty two people for Easter we had the tables set by Friday night. I use lists daily to keep track of what needs to be done each day and I always try to have them done one day prior to the day I had planned for. I like to get my check and church envelope ready on Sat. morning. We never know what life holds and having things done a day early has just helped with organization. K.Miller

Unknown said...

Love the ditty bags......they would be a great way to organize...however, I try to focus on one thing at a time....multi-tasking is over-rated....this works for me.

skjeffrey@earthlink.net

Cindy said...

My organizational tip is the bins and buckets you can buy at the Dollar stores. These bins and buckets work out great for everything. My daughter and my grandchildren live with me. There are a couple in the pantry: 1) to hold acceptable snacks for my grandson; 2) another holds packages of rices and beans; and another holds ramen noodles and the like. I have several of these bins in my sewing room to hold various sewing supplies and fabric scraps. My daughter uses some to organize the baby's things. Would love to win the pattern!

45th Parallel Quilter said...

My organizational tip is to clean your workspace immediately after you finish a project ... yes, it's hard ... but ... when the mood or opportunity to sew again strikes you'll be able to jump right in rather than straightening up and getting lost in the process. I always cut up my scraps into usable shapes and store (by color) in containers marked with the size(s). Easy to grab and go! Thanks for the opportunity to win this pattern ... it would be outside of my comfort zone and one that I'm anxious to try! Linda Canends@Hotmail.com

NanaNor's said...

Hi there, Love your bags and would love a chance to win the pattern. I've never made bags like this, but you make it sound easy and fun. My organizational tip is to write things down(that way I remember them), be it dates or chores or items you need. I have a white board in my kitchen that keeps important info on it.
Thanks so much for sharing.
Hugs,
Noreen

Carol said...

my tip is for organization of scraps. I love scrap quilts and that's the majority of what i make. I'm always collecting them and am given lots of bags of scraps. I stack the scrap pieces flat after they have been pressed as I don't like dealing with messy scraps, crumpled and otherwise. I sort like sizes together, even tho odd size and use the zipper bags to lay the sorted pieces inside so they will stay flat, then the bags can be stacked inside a larger plastic storage container. I generally don't have to press again doing it this way saving more time for sewing! I can grab bags of large pieces down to very small and several sizes in between.

Unknown said...

Thanks for a chance to win! For organizing in my sewing room, I use loads of clear plastic containers for storing different width fabric strips, squares, etc. I also keep all the bits and pieces for future projects in separate clear containers. To make things even easier I've printed labels for each container and then I find at a glance just what I need.

Glenda in Florida said...

I'd love to win the pattern. I'm currently doing a sort out in my sewing room, and the best tip I can come up with is to try not to have too much stuff. If only I could take my own advice!

Janet O. said...

I love zippered bags, but I don't love making them, so I support those that do. : )
Thus, you can exclude me from the drawing.
Not being the queen of organization, I probably shouldn't be giving anyone else tips.

Susan C said...

I love making zippered bags and use them quite often. As I'm on a quilt retreat now my organizational tip is to kit up your projects and put them in their own plastic box along with the instructions, thread and special notions that may be needed. Having everything ready like that makes for more productivity!

Mk said...

Would love to have the pattern. Love yours. Organization tips that's helps me is keeping project together in clear plastic tote container. Also clean sewing area after every project before starting another project. Mary Kay e mail: otter@abbnebraska.com

Debbie Lou said...

Cute, cute bags! I would love to have the patterns. I love to keep my printed paper patterns safely put away in clear sleeves. It keeps them clean and all together. I have a tendency to loose pages if I don't do this. Thanks for the giveaway. Enjoy your bags! Deb spoofs@juno.com

Gloria said...

I'd love to make the ditty bags so hope I am the winner of this giveaway! My tip is to keep the magazine patterns that we tear out of magazines in plastic sleeves and then in binder notebooks. A notebook for patterns for "someday", "how to" etc.
Gloria
gyates625@bellsouth.net

Linda in PA said...

Love your bags! I would be happy to win your extra pattern! My organizational idea has to do with fabric scraps. Being that my sewing space is on the small side, I cut scraps into useable sized squares and strips and store each size and type in their own plastic shoe box. Each box is then labeled as to what is inside. This makes it easy for me to find and use the pieces when I make scrap quilts.