Fruit of My Ulcer

Some people scrub things when they're all stressed out.  Alas, I am not among those efficient elite.  (This woefully sad truth is one that I've heard The Huz lament upon more often than I care to recall.  But what can you do?)  Others, I'm told, hit the gym when the going gets tough.  Not I, my friends.  When the heat is on, you'll find me in the throes of making something.  Root canal on tomorrow's agenda?  Have a dozen fresh-baked blueberry muffins!  Bipolar-Obsessive-Compulsive-possible-homebuyer playing Russian Roulette with your life?  Let's go make some eco-friendly upcycled shopping bags!

So now you know what I did last night.  With the madness surrounding the attempted sale of our home fueling the fires of my neurosis creativity, I cranked out these three little beauties (the bags, not the kids!) in about an hour and a half (including a quick Connect Four break and two trips to the potty with a certain someone who just doesn't trust anyone but Mommy to take her....)  I'd been meaning to make new totes for a ages, having noted that my grocery bag wardrobe needed a little vintage kick in the pants.

As usual, I used Super Eggplant's Tote Bags 101, and as usual, am pleased as punch with the results.  These are super-simple, ultra-addictive, and require no actual measuring.  And in my case, no actual cutting.  Since I was using vintage sheets anyhoo, I went with the old snip-and-rip maneuver and didn't look back.  To further traumatize those of you who Really Sew, I'll let you in on a little secret.  I only used white thread for the whole shebang, because---wait for it!---all of the pretty thread is in a box.  In Milwaukee.   I didn't use a single pin, either...guess where they are?

Lucky for me, I hadn't yet packed the unpicker.   Or the sewing machine oil, as both of those handy implements were called for in the course of the evening's events.  As was a dinner knife, brandished with Scotty-esque finesse---the screwdriver's packed!--- to coax open the top of my trusty machine.

All in all, a good night's work.  And so what if I didn't Clean All The Things?  The checkout girl at Trader Joe's complimented me on my bags this morning, only hours after I'd  snipped those last dangling threads.