A magical transformation...

I always like to see how others create. If anyone is curious, here's how I go from this:

To something like this:

The vintage Carebears lunchbox is actually a covert marketing tool- I use it to carry a few little embroidery projects with me to appointments or anywhere I might have to wait. It never fails to get excited remarks, and then questions regarding why I'm carrying it around. This is a great opportunity to show off my work and whip out a few business cards!

So if I wanted to make something like a headband, first I cut out a bunch of flowers and leaves in different shades of pink and pick out a few buttons. I try to lay it out just how I want to sew it together, but without fail it will get knocked off the table or myseriously rearranged (toddler afoot) before I'm able to finish it. So I take a quick picture to remind myself how I liked it.

And eventually, it [hopefully] will turn out like this:

I've been aspiring to make little purses or zippered pouches (Gah I hate that word.) So I used the same method to lay out the design:

Then it's like a puzzle, figuring out which layers to sew down in which order:

And eventually may come out like this!

When I say eventually, I mean if or when the sewing part of the change purse is ever finished. [MOM!]