Appleton Dance

LESA associate Mark Rogers unloads backpacks in Howell today. by Linda Theil  Livingston Educational Service Association associate Mark Rogers said, "We appreciate you!" as he unloaded a dozen, supply-filled backpacks we delivered in Howell today for the LESA "Backpacks for Kids" program. LESA is accepting donations of backpacks and school supplies through July 31, 2025 for free distribution to students in school districts throughout Livingston County on August 7, 2025. For more information about LESA's Backpacks for Kids" program visit the LESA website at https://www.livingstonesa.org/community-resources/backpacks-kids . We spent Saturday at Alisa's house filling backpacks with all the great supplies kids need to go back to school. We filled handmade pencil pouches with pens, pencils, scissors, erasers, and a pencil sharpener. For more information on how we made the pencil pouches visit our AppletonDance blog post titled "Fast Archie". We did...

Mini "Arch" pouch, pattern by Diane Spencer-Ogg. 6.5x5x2.5-inches by Linda Theil We needed a dozen pencil pouches to put in the backpacks we are filling for the annual "Backpacks for Kids" project organized by the Livingston Educational Service Agency of Livingston County, Michigan.  I thought Diane Spencer-Ogg's new "Arch Zipper Pouch" would make a cute pencil pouch if I reduced the "medium" pattern option to 80-percent of the original. That reduction made a pouch measuring 6.5-inches wide, by five-inches high, by 2.5-inches deep. Since I had to make so many pouches, I looked for ways to simplify the already perfect design to reduce the drudgery of so much repetition. Although the pattern has a beautiful two-color option, I decided to make the one-color option, reducing the number of pattern pieces to one piece for the body of each bag, and two identical pieces to construct each zipper placket. I also eliminated the lining, and the interior...

Cathy and Carla on the beach at Sterling State Park, Monroe MI, May 2024 by Linda Theil Several years ago, Alisa discovered the full-amenity cottages on the beach at Sterling State Park in Monroe, Michigan; and we have enjoyed several family vacations there. Two years ago, I invited my cousins to spend a long spring weekend at Sterling, We enjoyed it so much we went again last year, and plan a trip for this year, too. I wanted to make a commenorative goodie-bag for this years trip so I chose a photo from last year and developed a color scheme for a tiny duffle and matching mini-backpack. The duffle is made from the Spencer-Ogg "Arch Zipper Pouch"   in the medium size -- 9 x 6 x 3-inches; and the mini-backpack is the "Bitty Bug Pack" pattern by Carolina Little Stitches. Both bags are made with Tilda "Chambray Dots" and faux waxed-canvas from Sally Tomato . For the feature panel on the front of the mini-backpack, I resized the  Sterling beach photo with my...

  by Linda Theil Zoe likes penguins; so, I made her a penguin birthday card using a video from Missouri Star titled "Penguin March" . The video describes how to make a garland of penguins, but I just made one penguin with a ribbon. I attached the penguin to Zoe's birthday present using the ribbon tied into a bow around the gift. You can buy a pattern from Missouri Star, but I just followed the directions in the video without a printed pattern, and although I made some mistakes, the penguin turned out cute enough to win me a hug from Zoe.

by Linda Theil Diane Spencer-Ogg, owner of Spencer-Ogg, Ltd. in Greater Manchester, UK, released a new mini-duffle pattern she calls "Arch Zipper Pouches" in two sizes with printable pattern pieces and video tuturial. Her video introduction can be viewed at the end of this post. As always, Spencer-Ogg has hit the ball out of the park with the elegance of her design and the precision of her process. I have made two of the 10x8x4-inch large-sized Archies -- as her  fans have dubbed the new pattern. The bag shown above is made of Mora Faux Leather in grape from Emmaline Bags of Alberta, Canada. The interior, shown below, is cotton from the "Art History" collection by Marcia Derse for Windham Fabrics. For my second Archie, I quilted a panel from the "Guess How Much I Love You" collection by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram for Clothworks. With this new design, Spencer-Ogg debuts an updated pattern-production method that provides printable pattern pieces and a c...

by Linda Theil A bagmaker from the Kandou Patterns Community on FaceBook posted a bag featuring the Kandou "Mini-Traveler Sling" pattern using a Starbucks coffee bag as part of the fabrication. I am from Pittsburgh, so perhaps it comes naturally that I am intrigued by the use of iconic advertising in works of art, so I asked Alisa to please buy me some Starbucks coffee so that I could sew with the bags. I am also a fan of this slim, six-by-twelve-inch sling pattern that has three pockets and no inside! Alisa was particularly fond of the "Brown Sugar Cinnamon" limited edition bag, so I used this pink and gold bag for my first Starbucks sling. For the body of the bag, I used a cotton from the "Seedlings" collection by Katarina Rocella for Art Gallery Fabrics. The lining is Roccella's "Stacked Stones" design from her "Abstract Art" collection, also for AGF. "Stacked Stones" from "Abstract Art" collection by K. Rocc...

Mini-camper bag charm by Linda Theil This small duffle is the fourth Weekend Bag from the "Escape Pod Travel Collection" by Diane Spencer-Ogg that I have made. The bag is a gussetted duffle made using a double-birthing method that is, in my experience unique to Spencer-Ogg designs. The small 16x12x6-inch size was designed specifically to fit the carry-on requirements for ultra-low-cost, Irish airline, Ryanair. This "Journey Duffle" was made for a Michigander traveler who needs a roomy stash for haircare products and equipment, The jaunty bag is made from the "Joy in the Journey" collection by Dani Mogstad for Riley Blake Designs. The front and interior pocket panels are from the "On the Road Again" four-placemat panel by Katie Doucette for Wilmington. The straps are 1.5-inch-wide Tula Pink designed webbing. The rumpled look of the bag exterior is due to a mistaken use of a "craft" type interfacing that I mistook for my regular Pellon no...