i had an incredibly creative weekend.
i had so much fun creating the happy bag last week, that i thought i would try my hand this weekend to see if i could get creative like that again.
i was like a kid in a candy shop searching through my personal stash of fabrics and trims, pulling out stacks and stacks of stuff until i narrowed it down to this happy pile to start.
i once i had the fabrics determined, i started by tearing a strip of each.
and then tearing each strip into squares. this is the really fun part!
looking at the piles, i decided to go back into my stash and find some more fabrics that added texture into the mix and found these. that top one is called "monks cloth" and i have no idea why or what it is used for. i bought a yard of it about 8 months ago at hancock fabrics and have been using small bits of it here and there. the other 3 are colored canvas that i bought in san francisco over a year ago. feels good to use stuff!
i tore each of them into squares and was really happy with just my pretty piles of stringy fabrics!
then i began arranging them onto the apron. couldn't decide what to do about the pocket at first, but simply decided to pretend it wasn't there. so the apron does not have a functional pocket.
once i had the squares of fabric in place i glued them to the canvas apron with 450 quick dry and sewed each one in place. just like the happy bag i ended up sewing all the horizontal sides of each piece then the vertical sides.
i decided it needed an extra ruffle at the bottom (and i love any excuse to use my serger).
then ran the top edge of the ruffle through the machine on a loose stitch setting and pulled the top thread to create the gathers for the ruffle 
sewed the ruffle to the back of the apron with wrong sides together .
then folded it over and ran a second stitch across the back so that the ruffle would lay flat behind the original canvas ruffle.
this was the really fun part...then went through my stash of stuff and came back with yellow 3/16" eyelets and these adorable new vellum butterflies by jenni bowlin. the pearls on the butterflies totally make me happy too.
it is a really good thing i took out those butterflies too because see that second butterfly there? it is hiding the hole i made in the fabric with the cropadile as i was going punch happy on the canvas ruffle. NEVER MISTAKES...just opportunities. the butterflies on the ruffle make the whole apron for me!
then glued down some fancy new beaded fringe and some of my favorite lace trim above the ruffles and LOOOOOVE IT!
then i began pulling out trims for the waistband. not in a million years would i have ever thought to put these 3 ribbons/trims together (peach bloomers, light green ribbon, yellow ball trim), but it totally works and because i love the pearls on the vellum butterflies so much i decided to hand sew some pearls on top of the green ribbon. that makes me really happy too!
if bill thought that i was over the top excited about the happy bag, he sure got an earful of squeals as i was working on this. i was so excited to share it with you, i couldn't wait to get this post written and ready for view. (like a little kid wanting to show everyone what she made in school today).
i might be addicted?
