Bucket List Item # 16 Part 1

Just to start things off, I really wish I could do that "go scuba diving" thing today... but I live in Vermont and there is some scary algae in the lake right now... and I think it would be more fun to do that in the ocean. I'm going to be in Florida in my near future anyway, so maybe I should do that one then.

So I created this "to-do" item because I make a lot of stuff. I crochet, sew, glue, staple... (haha but no I really do) and it's so rewarding when you give someone a gift for no particular reason. So the first person I decided to give one of my creations to is an amazing member of my dance family, Sally. This all started months ago when I was at the dance studio and I had brought all of my costume changes with me in a bag that I made.

It was this bag

This is the inside

My dance family was commenting on it and when I told them I made it they were like "no way!" and Sally said "could you make me one? It would have to be a backpack though because I can't wear the shoulder strap bags." I told her I would and that was that. I know a lot of the times when people have those kinds of conversations they wouldn't actually make the bag, but I'm not like that. Plus Sally totally did something that rocked my world in June that definitely sped up the process of making her bag.

You see, my dance family did the Relay For Life together and I had never done anything like that before and I wasn't really sure what to expect. When the sun was starting to set and all of the luminaries were lit, the weight of everything just kind of finally stumbled out of me. You see, my older sister Jackie died of cancer and even though I had never meet her in person I see the pain of a lost child in my mothers eyes and I dream about her all the time. It happened to be her birthday on the exact day we were at the relay and I just started to cry. Sally saw and held my hand for probably 7 laps around the track (which is almost 2 miles), even after our arms got gross and sweaty she held on and she might not know it, but that was just what I needed. No one has ever reached out like that and let me just let it all out. I'm an extremely selfless person so it's a rare moment when I let myself free my emotions and let the sympathy light shine on me for a while even though other people were in the same or similar boats. That night I finally let go and wouldn't have been able to do it if Sally never reached out. 

My UDC North dance family at Relay For Life:  this was the last hour as you can see we are tired.

From Left to right in this picture is: Sally (you know her now), Jess (my amazing dance teacher), Pete (Jess's husband), Crystal (an awesome dancer), aaannd me.

So after that I was like, "this girl is getting her bag ASAP!" I was trying to finish it before last Thursday's dance class, but these things take a lot of time. I'm also a perfectionist and didn't want to rush it and it ending up looking like crap. So after a lot of hand sewing (because my sewing machine is broken) and hours of crocheting, I finally finished it! I make my own patterns by the way, I'm too much of a rebel to follow some other person's design. Here is the final product!

The Back: The yellow part is two pockets for wallets or water bottles

The Front: It's just awesome

The Inside: I found this hand-dyed fabric that was gorgeous and double sided.

I threw the heart on there because I was going to originally stitch her initials in it but the cross-stitch I used for the bag was too hard to work with for skinny letters. I think I like the heart better though. :)

I gave it to her tonight at dance class and she liked it a lot. I'm signing off now with another successful knock at my list. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow but we'll see what I'm able to come up with.

Peace out readers!

Follow me on Twitter: @datspatticakes

And I'll give a shout out to the best dance studio in Vermont UDC North: http://www.danceupnorth.com/

-Patti Cakes