The Great Outdoors

Last year my boyfriend (pictured) told me he was going to take a class called “Wilderness Travel Course” offered through the Sierra Club. It would involve a bunch of survival skills and a whole lot of camping and hiking. To him, this sort of adventure is heaven while my idea of outdoor adventure involves sitting in a chair wearing high heel go-go boots (my only pair of sensible shoes), drinking a glass of champagne while someone grills something fabulous!

Then, on one of his outings, he met a guy who actually sewed his own backpack. Now there is a way to combine my love of making things with his great outdoors- Sew Your Own Outdoor Gear! Fun!

Thru Hiker has a whole lot of outdoor project ideas as well as great basic sewing tutorials.

Backpacking.net has a lot of ideas to make your own gear.

Seattle Fabrics has outdoor fabric galore!

This site offers tips and techniques for sewing outdoor goods.

And here are some additional outdoor project ideas.

Next Pattern:

I am just smitten with this felt gingerbread house bag. This would make such a sweet special Christmas accessory for a kid. It’s a free pattern at Benzie Design, designed by Gracie from Hello Gracie Makes. It’s packed with adorable gingerbread house details, like swirls and stripes and scallops adoring the doors and windows.

And while all those details might seem like this would be a complicated pattern, it’s actually not. The bag itself is made from felt, which makes finishes edges unnecessary. (All of those scalloped edges are just cut from felt, no edge finishing required.) The strap is super simple, made from rope with knotted ends. And all those details are made with some basic hand embroidery stitches. Sparkle felt makes it extra cute.

The striped scallop roof is actually the top flap of the bag. A magnetic snap makes it a secure closure. The rope straps are attached through felt loops at the side of the bag.

They rate this project as an intermediate level, and it should take about 6 hours to make start to finish. That’s doable for a Saturday project or a couple of evenings. Full color photos step you through the entire process.

The project includes a shopping list for all of your supplies. They’ve got a shop so you can order all of them from Benzie if you like and get exactly the supplies used in the project. I noticed it includes a pair of scallop shears, which makes cutting all the scalloped edges for the roof and around the door a breeze.

Finished dimensions of the little felt gingerbread bag are approximately 6 ½” wide x 7 ½” tall. That’s the perfect size to hold a small book, a small toy, or a notepad and some cute pens.

Go to Benzie Design to get the tutorial and free pattern for the felt gingerbread house bag.

Next Pattern:

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