Treasures

 I am so glad you stopped by! Wow! Have we ever had the rain. I love it! It is so yummy to stay home on a rainy day! I got up early yesterday morning with a cup of coffee and my husband. We sat in my favorite little room, illuminated by the glow of one small lamp, and listened to the sounds of the rain as we read and talked. That kind of morning is hard to beat! Once children began to stir, Eddie's need to move kicked into gear. Within minutes, he was outside in the rain with a project. I also had the need to move, but down a more creative path. I am on the tail end of finishing sewing projects in my daughter's room, so my sewing machine was out and ready with fabulous fabric scraps calling my name.

I made a precious and easy little pocket for treasures. I love little treasures. I was jogging the other day and picked up a perfectly smooth white rock with a cool shape and brought it home. No idea what I'm going to do with it, but it is my little treasure. When my girls were growing up they shared a room until they went off to college. Three girls in one room is a little tight so you can imagine, they shared just about everything. (That was my treasure)  Being so close and sharing everything, it was important to me that the girls had a special place to keep their little treasures. It might have been a drawer or a cabinet or a kaboodle box, but it was their own space for treasures, and it was respected and protected.

As I made my pocket yesterday, I was remembering all the treasures my children used to collect. They would take such incredible care of their things, displaying them prominently on a shelf or bedside table. To the world their treasures were worthless, but to my children, they were priceless. If you belong to Jesus, you are His treasure. When thoughts of guilt or fear creep into your mind, cast them away. Isaiah 43:1, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you! I have called you by name, you are Mine!" It does not matter where you've been or what you've done, He loves you with an everlasting and unconditional love. You are not worthless!  Psalm 103:4, He redeems your life from the pit; He crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion. You are His treasure!



Here's how I made my pocket. I began by cutting a piece of backing the size I wanted my pouch. I did not measure, I eyeballed it. I backed with two layers of fabric liner. Then I cut different fabrics into strips. I did not measure. They were all different widths.



Lay the strips of fabric on the backing in an order that is appealing to you.



Pin the strips to the backing. Sew each strip down the middle. This is not neat, there are raw edges and strings everywhere. That's the cool part.



Trim edges and strings. At this point, I decided I did not love my edges being free so I used different size zig zag stitches to secure them to the backing. I love the look. However, I did think if I did it again I would back the strips with a good looking fabric and try not tacking down the edges and then you could see the pretty fabric underneath. (something to think about when you're designing your pocket.)



This was a last minute decision and I think it was a good one. First of all, in this Photo you can see the different stitches I used. Anyway, I took a piece of backing, doubled it, and stamped it with permanent ink the word "Love." Then I stitched it to the front where the flap is going to be. Again, nothing neat about it. You can see I have raw edges and strings all over.



This was the fun part. I folded it and stitched up the sides, and Bam! a Pocket. I also used a zig zag stitch on the top of the flap that folds down. It gave it a more finished edge. (not that any of the edges look very finished) Then I decided to put a button hole on the flap and add a button. Really you could do anything for a closure. You could use a safety pin, or velcro, or snap. I just chose a button because I had one.



How adorable is that? I "Love" it! It took me about an hour from start to finish. I'm sending my pocket to Towns. She is living at camp this summer and collecting lots of treasures. So the ones that she can't put in her heart can go in her pocket.

Thanks for stopping by! Make a pocket today and send me a pic! love love love Ruthie