Inspire your tweens and teens to sew their own original bags, purses, and totes with this ingenious craft book.
Stuff to Hold Your Stuff by Ellen Warwick (Kids Can Press, ISBN-10: 1-55337-745-1) has oodles of instructions for making all sorts of stuff-holding accessories to suit every mood and outfit. There are instructions for making a handbag, tote, messenger bag, and purse. There’s the overnight bag, the toiletry case, beach bag, and yoga tote. There are also small bags to make, such as the party purse, two wallets, and sunglass case. And finally, for school your favorite tween or teen can make a knapsack, lunch bag, pencil case, and a nifty portfolio.
Most of the projects involve using a sewing machine. There are basic instructions for sewing at the beginning of the book, as well a look at the difference between hems and seams. If you and your tween can thread a needle and sew a straight line with the sewing machine, you should have no problems.
Some of the projects don’t involve any sewing whatsoever. There’s a simple wallet that can be made out of duct tape. Another no-sew wallet uses self-adhesive laminating sheets and Velcro to hold it together. Also, no sewing is needed for the portfolio case that uses Chicago screws to hold it together.
Each project includes a simple list of materials needed. These materials can range anywhere from fabric to nylon rope. Most of the materials can be found in the home.
Some of the more ingenious projects call for a trip to the hardware store. The overnight bag, for instance, is made from tarp (polyethylene tarpaulin).
If you collect fancy paper or even have unwanted maps lying around, there are projects to put these interesting items to better use. For the Street Smart Wallet your tween can use anything from a street map to wrapping paper to magazine clippings to make a unique wallet. The Clearly Cool Handbag is made out of clear vinyl that can show off anything from fancy paper to photographs.
Stuff to Hold Your Stuff is a great project book for kids and adults because each project is personalized. You choose your own fabric or paper to show off. You can also change the size of the bags to fit your needs.
The projects are also easy on the budget and they allow the crafter to create numerous purses, totes, and wallets to suit every need, mood, and outfit.
For art and home education teachers, the portfolio and wallets require no sewing skills and use easy to find, inexpensive items that can be bought at craft and hardware stores.
