Drum Stick Bag

There have been so many signs this year that my daughters aren't little girls anymore, and one of the biggest is our loft. The toys that cluttered the floor in that room for years are gone, packed away over the summer except for a few small bins of toddler playthings that my girls use when they're babysitting. Except for the occasional Lego project or jigsaw puzzle on the breakfast nook table, that part of our life seems to be over. My feelings on the subject are decidedly mixed. Nostalgia gets the better of me now and then, but honestly, it's wonderful to see the girls growing up. There's so much to love about this new chapter in our lives, and the loft has become part of that story. What used to be the play area has now become the music studio, and it's definitely one of the most popular hangouts in our house.

We've always been a musical family. James and I both spent time learning music when we were growing up, and I've been singing for school, church, and other events since I was a child. Any number of instruments have found a place in our home over the years and each of us can play at least a little bit on one or more of them: piano, guitar (acoustic and electric), ukulele, banjo, and mandolin. We took things to a whole new level this year when my youngest daughter was given an electric drum set by a family friend who was heading off to college and didn't need it anymore. Mouse had already started taking drum lessons from one of the drummers at our church, and this allowed her skills to really take off. Bunny and Bear have both been singing on youth worship teams at church and putting in more time on piano and guitar this year, so it just seemed natural for the three of them to form their own band. While I'm always here to advise them when they need help, it's been fantastic to watch them work together to choose music, practice for hours on end, and then perform for the family every few months on special holidays. Right now they're working on a Valentine's Day program, and it already sounds pretty great. 

Anyway, Mouse has been asking me to sew a special bag for carrying her drum sticks to her weekly lessons, and I decided that today was the day to get it done. She's obsessed with cats, so I pulled out a favorite Japanese print that I've been saving for ages to fussy cut a few scraps for the project. I featured one on the flap and the other on a tiny pocket on the back. The blue ticking stripe canvas print makes a soft but sturdy exterior, and I paired it with a matching cream and blue dot print for the lining. A wrist strap on top will hopefully make it a little easier to hold. The hardest thing about this whole project was sewing a bag with such an incredibly narrow opening - just 2 1/2" in diameter - but by going slowly, I was able to do it.

I can't tell you how delightful it was to start and finish a project in one morning. Usually I save my sewing as an incentive for getting my daily work done, but the truth is that there's always more to do than I can finish before bedtime. My days fly by, and I get to the end of them without ever getting around to the reward. I think I'm going to start taking my sewing time in the morning for a while and see what happens. It feels a little naughty, like I'm sneaking dessert right before dinner, but this was just too much fun not to try it again.