Kitty Tags

I wanted to make the Luggage tags I'd done a while ago then, the pattern by StudioKat Designs is a great pattern to do them with, but I got distracted by this super cute detailed tutorial of disney luggage tags. I loved how ingenious the idea was and wanted to do something similar....

While I was in search for inspiration, Coco, my darling adorable cat was staring right at me saying 'Mommy mommy.. see anything already???' and walla! He inspired these luggage tags. Its a shame I couldn't bring him along to my 5 week trip overseas but he's in good (although a bit scary) comapany.

 
I wanted to post a photo of Coco to show him off but realized I don't have a single photo of him.. guess that makes me a terrible mommy.... he'll forgive me though... he's very loving.

I cut the pattern using a strainer (those pointy things to keep those seives make great markings for kitty ears) I was trying to find a way to post a PDF (my very first one!!) but decideded I'd put it off for later and I'll edit this post when I do (read that as next to never... 'DONE' the things I put in my UFO bin are never so fortunate to see the light of day again..)

(update 8/12/2013) and here's the PDF Pattern:

The luggage tags really did make my bag stand out of the crowd on those carousels (although I was sort of embarrassed to pick up the pussy faced bag when it reached my). Oh and I'd intended the bag to be my cabin bag which turned out to be quite a lot of over the baggage limit and it had to be stowed away with the check in luggage. The older gentleman at the counter was patient enough for me to write stuff on the luggage tag and put it on. I suspect he was slightly amused by them (makes me darned proud of my custom sewn tags). I had stuffed a grocery bag in there and that's what I carried my laptop in on the flight... it was sort of funny to tote the laptop peeping over the top in a floppy, frail cloth bag.. but guess these experiences all make up for memorable journeys.. oh the joys of flying overseas!

oh oh oh.. by the way, I forgot to say, I got a new sewing machine, The Singer Brilliance thats how I'm back on this blog with some of my creative expressionz.. ;o)

The sewing preparation for the travel reminds me, I wanted a toiletry boxy bag that would hold my body wash, loofah, shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush and toothpaste and comb without the insides getting wet so I'd planned to make a bag like the shoe bags I'd made a while back with plastic lining. I had cut the plastic pieces (from the plastic wrap for the sewing machine  which seemed quite sturdy) but got too lazy to cut the fabric outside pieces and when the time to travel neared, I thought I'd just make the bag for now with the plastic stuff. This is what it looked like:


Although I was glad that it held its boxy shape quite nicely, it did in all honesty looked like it was made from a garbage bag and it just didn't feel quite right to put my toothbrush in it.... so it couldn't make the journey with me but I do hope I'll find a use for it. When I got to my mother's place, I made a smaller version of the bag in pink that would hold just my toothbrush and the paste and maybe my comb too. I sewed on a decorative stitch with a rayon thread that broke every 13 stitches!


Mum loved the pink one and wanted it as a wallet... besides I'm not too huge a fan of the pink anyway so I let her keep it and immediately got a request for another one for a wallet the same size but the zip on the top and I obliged with this one from the still left over bedsheet scraps from the passport wallet + shoe bags I did a couple or so years ago:


But you can see that its a tad too long than the biggest (not just value-wise, I meant length wise) currency note and am guessing there'd be a tall-wallet-part-II-that's-not-so-tall order coming up soon. Its nice to be asked something to sew.. feels like your talent for sewing (or at least the talent to make some sewing fiascos) isn't gone unapprecaited...

Oh the pouch that you see above, mum used it alright.. but not as a tall wallet but as a toothbrush and comb holder... because she figured it wasn't such a smart idea to fish for the currency notes in the too-darned-tall pouch but was the perfect height to fit a comb and her toothbrush perfectly... talk about circular inventions. It was nice to hear her talk about how she 'figured the perfect use for it' was real nice when we were at the 'Sukhsagar Beach Resort' at Kunkeshwar. Here's a photo of the view from our room.. totally unrealated to the post.. but hey.. its all about travel...