Totes for my Little Ballerinas

Wow! I can't believe this is my 100th post...man, I talk too much! Thanks for listening :-) Don't worry, I brought you all some eye candy to go along with the babble today.

The two little beauties in my life love to dance. Spend a good part of each day on their tip-toes, twirling around...do you have little ballerinas like this, too?

They both take a dance class, and normally I tote their tiny little ballet and tap shoes back and forth to class in a crumby plastic bag. So, I thought they needed an upgrade.
Ta da! Ballerina totes! I think these are probably the most favorite thing I have ever made. And since I am in "Santa's Workshop" mode, I went ahead and made 5 of 'em...for family and friends!
The inspiration for these bags was this adorable Japanese ballerina print....isn't it sweet?
I only had a fat quarter, so I had to stretch my creative muscles to come up with a way to highlight the print but have enough to make all these bags. The body of the bag is rather simple, just a simple tote in a linen-look cotton, lined with a sweet pink polka dot. The straps used the same linen and a soft pink stripe.

I added a big pocket on the front, with a square of the ballerina print, some coordinating Hunky Dory, and some more pink polka dots. I also hand embroidered each girl's name in pink thread, and added some cute girly crochet trim.
I used some more Hunky Dory to make a loop for a big wooden button- an informal closure easy to manage with little fingers. If my name was Oprah, or Julie Andrews, wooden buttons would be one of "my favorite things."
As a little fun detail, I also added a tab with an appliqued ballerina...can never have too many ballerinas on a ballerina bag, after all! Each girl got a different little ballerina "character."


The finished size is about 12" by 13", ample for ballet shoes, tutus and a change of clothes.


One added bonus of this project is that, aside from one fat quarter of the ballerina print, all of the fabrics and notions I used were from my stash. I feel like a "real" quilter now....I used to have to always buy coordinates for everything, but have now amassed a pretty awesome variety of fabrics. It felt good to dip into it and use some up!

These will be under the Christmas tree, so we will still be "plastic bagging-it" for a few weeks...but I am sure they will be thrilled.