from aunt "selly"

Our two weeks in Chicago are coming to an end - we fly back to Seattle tomorrow afternoon. I squeezed in a couple of additional on-location projects on Tuesday night. These are gifts for my sister, Mel's, kids. I had grand plans of making special somethings for each of my two nephews and two nieces, but I only managed to accomplish half of them. Zach and Maddie will be recieving a package in the mail soon, I promise you, Amy and Kim!

I made this ballerina backpack for my niece, Abby. She was very interested in Charlie's and Marcus' Hobo Sacks, so I decided to make her a backpack version.

My mom had this book sitting near her sewing machine. It is full of quick, easy bag ideas, and the directions are written very well.

I made Abby's backpack using the instructions from this page - I just sized it down a bit to fit her petite frame. You could easily make this backpack using the Hobo Sack from MADE directions. You'd just need to make the straps longer (take the length of the backpack panel + width of the backpack panel, then multiply the sum by 2). Leave 1/2 inch gaps in the bottom corners of the bag, then thread the ends of the straps through the holes and stitch them closed.

Charlie was a good sport and modeled the backpack so that I could check the fit before Abby came over.

Hooray! The backpack is a perfect fit. I was so happy that she liked it so much.

I also made another tool belt using this tutorial from Make It and Love It. My nephew, Bobby, is a big tool guy.

Bobby was not too excited when I tried to put the belt on him. He was more interested in acquiring the hammer that was hanging on the loop. So, here's a picture of Marcus sporting the belt. I'm sure Bobby will eventually like his belt - especially when he can put it on himself!

Wish me big buckets of luck for my plane ride home tomorrow - I'm flying as the solo adult with my two little hooligans. Yikes. My mantra: We will survive.