Travel Buddies

JesS and I have been doing quite a few things, though she tends to limit herself to flashes of inspiration for earrings. I’m the one who pulls out the sewing machine, and this is what I was up to last month…

I call them travel buddies to take along with you during your short breaks and vacations and use as shoe bags, document pouches etc. although they could very well be used for all sorts of other functions of course. As a small child, my daughter always had 2 or 3 bags like this to host her special travel companions – a favourite doll, pjs and so on.

The inspiration for these coordinated sets (4 bags per set) came from some gorgeous Liberty prints I found designed for the Victoria & Albert Museum in London for an exhibition of old British quilts. Many of the prints I have used are replicas of those old quilting fabrics which I have coordinated with a block colour to create these drawstring bags and matching accessories. Once I got the “bug” I went ahead and made several sets in several different colourways – some using the Liberty prints and others using pretty Tyrolean cotton in various traditional prints. We are lucky enough to find these quite easily here and I pick up most of mine in a local market.

In most cases I have used a chunky twisted cord for the drawstring, and have added either wooden or hand crafted polymer beads to block the cord ends. Each set has a little complimentary lavender pod sachet to keep your suitcase smelling sweet!