Cheery Burlap Pouches

I've already told you about the appliqued towels I made for gifts while I watched old black and white movies leading up to Christmas. (You can see those HERE.) What I didn't show you was these little burlap pouches I was embellishing with the same applique.


Here you can see Bob the Tomato (from Veggie Tales) keeping watch over my work. He tries his best to keep me off pins and needles by holding them for me. Even so, I do dumb things with my needle and mindlessly lay it down and forget what I did with it. He tries to maintain a steady positive grin, but as you can see, I have a bit of a problem with keeping the embroidery thread in line. I think he was grimacing here. It wasn't entirely out of control in this picture, but these things have a way of devolving fast. He was probably trying to warn me what was coming. He's seen this sort of thing before. He is a common sense tomato after all, and avoids such foolishness.



I rescued Bob the Tomato from the Random Toy H-E-Double-Toothpicks to which he would most certainly have been destined had I not intervened and given him a new life as my stitching accompanist. After my daughter ate the candy out of him one Easter (he is zippered in back and had a bag of candy inside), he would likely have gone to the dark place (a cabinet in her room that holds unknown junk and stuff from two decades.) Yep, I saved him from that evil... if being conscripted into service as a pin cushion can be considered any sort of salvation.

Oh, no! I just went and checked on him. Here's the state I found him in. He looks petrified over his fate.


Poor thing. This is his life as my assistant. If he had feet, I have a feeling he'd be outta here.

Well back to the pouches. I bought them for $1 each at Target's dollar section a few months back and attached the flowers and leaves (in much the same way as I did with the towels) using a chain stitch and tacking the edges down to prevent some of the fraying that will eventually give them a sweet shabby feel. I gave these to my girls in their Christmas stockings. They're good for so many things: make up, make up brushes, sunglasses, change/money, coupons, pencils and pens, etc.

My purse could use a bunch of these to hold all the stuff floating around in there.



I have made another three, and I think I have enough flower parts left to make one more. Then it will be time to try out some other ideas. I have 12 or so more of the pouches left, and some have black zippers, so I want to come up with some ideas to accommodate that. Time to get creative!


Well, you Gotta love Bob. He's found his way out of the snarl of embroidery thread, and from a distance that look on his face could once again be mistaken for a grin. That gives me the feeling he approves of my efforts (like a motivating thumbs up without thumbs). He's a keeper.

Apparently I'll take any encouragement I can get, even if it comes by way of a stuffed tomato. Heaven help me.


I'll be sharing this at:

Mop it Up Monday @ I Should Be Mopping The Floor

One Creative Weekend @ One Creative Mommy

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home

Be Inspired @ Common Ground

Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Creek Cottage

Primp Your Stuff @ PRIMP

Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style