Holiday sewing list

OK, following on from my post about sewing projects for our holiday, I have a bit of a list:

For the big girl:
- 'Sophie tunic' kaftan to cover up from the sun
- messenger bag to carry her things on our adventures
- a pair of shorts "Can I have shorts please Mama? Shorts, a shirt and a bag". OK then. Does anyone have any ideas for girls shorts? She has been obsessed with skirts and dresses for so long that this has thrown me!

For the little girl:
- ruffle top
- popover dress "I want butterflies Mama, and spiders" Hmm, will have to see if I can find a fabric with butterflies and spiders - wish me luck!
- messenger bag

For the baby:
he doesn't really need anything but can't be left out, so:
- a sun hat
- shorts/trousers

Now, what do you do when you have a list of sewing to get through in a short space of time? Make something totally different, of course. Thinking we could do with a big beach type bag, I made the enormous bag pictured last night in some fabric I 'gathered' from Ikea recently. I think the print makes it a perfect holiday fabric, with it's birds and boats. Of course I could have just taken this bag, as it's a similar size, but that black background would fade quicker than you can say 'palm tree' and anyway, it's too precious ;-)



So it's a simple rectangular shape, with squared off bottom corners to give it a base, and two shoulder straps. It's not lined as the fabric is pretty heavy and I wanted to keep the bag light, but I did make a facing for the top edge (I'm sure there's a more technical way to explain that) to give the straps some strength, and I added a snap closure that I had in my stash, bought from this great online shop during my baby bag making frenzy when the baby was little. I love how these touches give a more finished look and stop it looking homemade in that not-so-good way! I find making bags so satisfying... but on to clothes now... wish me luck!