Study bag, part 2!

It's finished!  And it's awesome.  Check it out:

It is just so pretty.  And it's big enough for all my study stuff, with six pockets for everything else I could ever want to bring along!

Look, you can see my study manual in the big pocket, and my calculator in the little one.  There's also a three subject notebook in there, but it's completely dwarfed by the study manual, so you can't quite see it.  This thing is going to be so great for studying!  And going to the beach in the summer! And picnics...  so many opportunities! 

From another angle!

For anyone who's interested in making the same bag, I found the pattern here: http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/projects-ideas/bags-pillows/pick-a-pocket-purse_1.html

I am just so excited; I can't get over how great this turned out!

Gathered clutch!

Well, I had big plans for sewing things yesterday, but they all fell through when I got home and promptly went to sleep on my couch.  But now I'm all rested, and ready to make more things!

Today I practiced my first occasion of gathering.  It went alright, I think - I don't think it's going to be my favorite strategy. But here it is - my first gathered clutch!

You'll notice that I got a chance to practice my zipper sewing, as well!

 

This weekend, I have HUGE plans.  My very first planned out study bag!  I'm going to the fabric store tomorrow, and it will probably take at least an hour to pick out the proper fabrics.  But no worries, I'll show it off when it's done :)  Good luck me!

Study bag

My textbook for 3L just came today, and it's time to start studying for the next exam!  I really like to study at Panera's and Starbucks, since they have outlets and free wifi and let you sit there as long as you want without really worrying if you purchase much.  When I get there, I like to buy a cookie and then pick at it for hours so I'm never just sitting there without something they sell.  For the previous exams, I haven't had a really good study bag.  I've used whatever I had lying around, but everything got all confused inside the bag, and there's so much to bring it didn't all fit.  So I came up with the idea of making a bag just for my study materials, that I can bring to work and to Panera's and wherever I go!  But I'm going to do this right.  First I'm going to decide exactly what I need space for, then I'm going to measure everything, and then I'm going to buy the right amounts of fabrics, and THEN I'm going to sew it.

Step 1:  What do I need?
- textbook
- laptop
- 3 subject notebook
- calculator
- pen
- pencil
- highlighters
- laptop charger
- cell phone
- cell phone charger

Step 2: What does my new bag need?
- large pocket for textbook
- large pocket for laptop and 3 subject notebook
- wall pocket for calculator
- wall pocket for pen, pencil, and highlighters
- curly top side pocket for laptop charging cord
- outer pocket for cell phone
- small curly top pocket for cell phone charging cord

Step 3: Measurements
- to do!

Wristlets!

Hello blog world!

This is my inaugural post of Crafting Actuary!  I'm an actuary (well, an actuarial trainee), and I craft and sew to de-stress while studying!  Mostly this blog is going to be my space to share what I'm making, for whoever wants to read it!

What I'm making this week is wristlets.  I love to sew, but eight thousand pillows isn't really useful for anyone, and my first (well, actually second) foray into quilting is going well, but is really going pretty slowly.  So, back to wristlets!  I've never really made anything useful before, so it's a work in progress.  My first try, I was unsuccessful in attaching the fabric to the zipper (my first time with zippers, too!), but by the second time, I had the process down.

I made purses with two different zipper sizes - 4 inches and 6 inches.  I think I like the 6 inch zipper better.  It was a really easy process!  First, I layered the outer fabric, batting, and inner fabric, and pinned them together.

Then, I quilted the layers together - also my first time using the walking foot!

I trimmed the fabrics to be a rectangle, and then cut it into 5''x8'' rectangles.  Then I sewed two rectangles  onto each zipper (photo to come later) and then sewed the layers together with a wrist strap in between.  I ended up making them in two different colors.

I'm pretty excited to start distributing them to my friends for test runs!  I have a few ideas to make them better (for one, something to hide the inner seams), but I think people should like them.

Until next time!