Fabric Grocery Bags or Highland Dancing, You Decide

So, I believe I've mentioned the fabric bags that I started awhile back. Here is when I bought the sheets I made them with. Here is when I attempted to start making them. Within a week I got as far as getting all the actual bag part of the bags sewn up, all of the handles cut out and pressed, and less than half of the handles actually sewn up and attached to the bag.

They aren't completely done, but I'm using them anyway...


Then the communal sewing machine that my siblings and I share kind-of went a little funky. It would sew OK for awhile, then it would just get all tangled up in the back. Of course, it was in the back of the fabric, so I wouldn't see it until I was done with the line. Then I would rip out the bad part of the seam, fiddle with some of the knobs on the machine, do a practice line and start again. It would sew fine for a bit, then start going wonky again.

I am now an expert seam ripper.

Then, the sewing machine itself needed to visit my brother's house. My sister said she was sure she could fix it (with more fiddling of knobs, I believe) and so it went to Tommy's. He needed it to sew up a hornpipe costume.

Just what is a hornpipe costume, you may ask... well, Tommy does (and Jenny, my sister, used to do) Scottish Highland dancing. Mostly, they wear a kilt, but one of the dances (called the hornpipe) requires a hornpipe costume. Duh!

The dance itself involves pantomiming the life of a sailor, pulling the rigging, saluting... basically looking like popeye. It also requires bellbottoms and a jaunty little hat. This is something that I've given them enormous grief over, since they began dancing when they were pretty young and susceptible to sibling teasing. And I used to be a lot meaner than I am today.

However, the hornpipe costume is not nearly as bad as the jig costume for males.

They dress like leprechauns.

Seriously.

I'd include a picture of Tommy in one of those if he ever allowed anyone to photograph him in that state.

So, here's something I found on You Tube that shows the hornpipe pretty well. I included it for both people that know about Scottish dancing and people that don't. It's actually a choreography that includes both the jig and the hornpipe. When the ones in the pants are dancing alone, that's basically what a hornpipe looks like. The rest is pretty untraditional, but also, pretty cool. (Tommy, be sure to watch this!)


So, anyway, this post was supposed to be about my bag project, but it turned out not to be. Sorry.

Added Note- But, I did finally write about it here with a tutorial and everything.