One of Laurel’s Christmas gifts was this new dance bag. Almost three years ago, I embroidered a sweet pink bag with pastel ballerinas.  Dirty and stained, it apparently has long since passed its expiration date.
Laurel’s 6 year old taste has gone over to the wild side, likely the result of glitzy marketing that targets her age group. Though I prefer the look and mood of the old bag, I have to remind myself  that I am sewing for Laurel.
The shiny, new, waterproof, black bag  should be impervious to stains, like the huge red blotch brought on by a leaking bottle of Gatorade that she planned to finish after dance class.
Both the monogram on the back of the bag and the DANCE lettering are Dotty Girl Stacked Monogram Font from DigiStitches. Laurel says it’s cool and she should know. She is six and a half now, she reminds me.  The dots on each character make the letters two-color, without being fussy. For extra glitz appeal, these were stitched with silver metallic thread.
The two little dancers are from Creative Designs Ballet 2 collection. Their costumes were outlined with the same silver metallic thread while their flesh colored faces and arms were outlined with a golden brown.
Grosgrain ribbon in hot pink with black polka dots was stitched along the top of the bag for a little extra punch and to echo the dots in the monogram.
Embroidering these ready made bags, I have concluded, is more trouble than making the bag myself. It is so frustrating to work with the bag inside out!   It necessitated opening the side seams to create a viewing window in order to monitor the stitching progress. Otherwise, I could not see what was happening in the bag.
Threading the machine was difficult and annoying. I remember thinking the same thing when I made Laurel’s first bag, but somehow that hard earned wisdom was forgotten until it was too late.
But Laurel loves her new bag and her mother, I am sure, will be happy to have her little ballerina walk into the dance studio carrying a more respectable looking bag.
When this one gets old, I will make a bag from scratch.
